


The Devil Who Talks To Sea Creatures

by SunBathingDragon



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angel Wings, Day At The Beach, Diving, Established Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, F/M, First Nations, Fluff and Angst, Love at First Sight, Marine Biology, Protective Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Teen Trixie, Trixie's first crush, air borne bonding time, deckerstar fluff, flying together, injured shark, sea creatures - Freeform, wing syntesthesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24811555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunBathingDragon/pseuds/SunBathingDragon
Summary: It was supposed to be a relaxed day at the beach for Trixie's marine biology school project - what could possible go wrong?A little fluffy story with established, deepening (too sexy for their own good) Deckerstar, where teen Trixie meets her first crush, where Lucifer's language abilities incude sea creatures and where a bunch of racist-bullying shitheads get their Devillish due. And where Lucifer finally gets that pet shark he always wanted - but at what costs?Weekly posts, 10 of ~12 chapters ready to roll.
Relationships: Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Trixie Espinoza & Lucifer Morningstar
Comments: 112
Kudos: 157





	1. Coastline Air Borne Bonding Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Navaros](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Navaros/gifts), [@TaniaRo98992216](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40TaniaRo98992216), [MintChocoPie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintChocoPie/gifts), [Pruflas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pruflas/gifts).



> Inspired by the LuciferPromtSmiles that the awesome writers NotOneLine and KayKat instigated and still manage to bring joy to the LuciFandom during COVID19 global shit times. It is dedicated to the prompts of the lovely @pruflas4 (twitter) towards Lucifer and his pet shark which has already been fulfilled by @kayKat666.  
> The story also meets the following requests (I hope it does, at least):  
> @_navaros_ "Lucifer helping Trixie with bullies" (hope chapter 8 is what you wanted, dear <3),  
> @TaniaRo98992216 (twitter) "A day at the beach with Lucifer, Chloe and Trixie. Chloe teaching Lucifer how to surf etc." (only here it's vice versa - sorry....) and of the request of MintChocoPie (AO3) "Lucifer and Chloe navigating Trixie's teen years..." (here it's not dating, but her first "love at first sight" crush).  
> Hope you enjoy! I post once a week at the weekends.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Lucifer-Trixie flight to "beach time", an encounter with a seagull, bonding time and some rollercoasters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggested Songs for this chapter:   
> (1) “Flight of the Silverbird” by Two Steps From Hell, or   
> (2) “Test Dive” plus “Romantic Flight” by John Powell (from “How to Train Your Dragon)   
> Preferably listen to all of them - they describe how I imagine Trixie feels when flying with Lucifer :D

“ _Umpffff-sh..._ ” The air was pressed out of Trixie’s lungs. The flying gear that tied her to Lucifer had suddenly tightened around her chest while catching her weight. 

Earth’ gravity was back! 

_Thank DD, Dad and Devil_. 

The nauseating spinning had just stopped the moment Lucifer rematerialized them on the earthly plane, high above the coastline north of Monterey Bay. She heard the familiar swishing of mighty, shimmering flight feathers, followed by a soft _whump_ as his wings caught the thermals over the sunlit landscape. 

Her eyes feasted on the bright colours spread beneath them in the morning-sun-lit, magnificent landscape. Trixie’s mouth stretched into an impossibly wide grin.

“There you go, urchin. Better?” 

“ _SO_ much better! Thanks, Lucifer.” She sighed dramatically to underline her statement.

Lucifer’s wings adjusted to the upwelling air over the land masses, rustling softly. 

Trixie closed her eyes, enjoying the sun and the wind on her face, the perfumes of wild herbs and the familiar smell of the Pacific ocean, inhaling deeply.

The devil chuckled softly and squeezed her briefly with his arms wrapped in a secure hold around her midriff. 

That he never, _ever_ trusted the gear her mom insisted on made her smile.

She squeezed his large hands back in affection and sighed in joy, taking in the fantastic sight below her. 

The soft, glacier-like turquoise-blue shimmering around their field of vision told her that he’d chosen to remain cloaked against prying human eyes or, more often these days, against nosy drones. 

“Can we do a bit of ABT before you fly us down to where mum’s waiting...please? _Pretty please?_ ” She squeezed his hands again in excitement. 

ABT, as in, air-borne bonding time as her mum had dubbed it.

She loved roller coasters like her mum, but she really could do without that strange, stomach-churning feeling when they crossed through planes of existence to shorten distances, she really could. 

And she’d _never ever_ tell mum anything about the nausea she always had to combat, lest she and Lucifer got mum/detective restrictions against their beloved _air-borne bonding time_ \- she’d never get enough of flying with her step-Devil, never! 

A bit of nausea was a tiny price to pay.

“Woa, Lucifer. _Whoohooo_!” she stretched one arm forward like a Superhero in flight, trusting her weight into Lucifer’s arms (and the gear). Then she spread both her arms wide in an imitation of bird flight, laughing out loud in delight.

She more felt than heard that Lucifer chuckled in return because her back was pressed against his chest. 

She could feel how he scanned their surroundings. She noticed how he adjusted his grip on her (did she mention that he didn’t trust the gear?)

“Ready for a nice rollercoaster dive, then, urchin?” he dared. 

“ _You BET_ ” she wiggled in eager anticipation. 

“Right, then,” the Devil chuckled. 

Lucifer curved steeply to the left, inland-ish, tipped them over his left wing into an impossibly steep downward dive. Then he tucked his wings close to his body and _plummeted like a rock_. 

“.... _yeees_ , _YAAAY…..!_ ” Trixie’s hands flew up to her mouth to stop the squealing. Air rushed past them like a thunderstorm.

Excitement cursed through her veins, flooded her like a tsunami. The magnificent turquoise Ocean to her right, Marina beach backcountry to her left. 

They gained speed quickly, gained, gained… The brown-green quill blanket of the landscape was rising up fast to meet them. 

The wind howled louder as they still accelerated, plummeting.

She struggled against squealing _so hard_ \- _,_ she’d better not! Lucifer didn’t ‘ _appreciate you deafening me, urchin, thank you very much_ ’, so she’d better seal her lips and enjoy the ride.

As they shot down towards the campus of California State University Monterey Bay, she heard Lucifer chuckle. “....your future study place, Beatrice?” His voice surprisingly warm and soft, over the howling wind and accelerating fall. 

“....how sh-should I know?” she shot back breathlessly, her heart hammering with excitement. 

“Fasten your seat belt, urchin” Lucifer warned. With a mighty _whoosh_ , he fanned his wings out dramatically so that they curved into shooting forward, then soared upwards in the blink of an eye. When she felt the several-fold of her own weight crash into the gear as they defied gravity, she was happy for Lucifer’s strong arms softening the blow. 

_That_ was a rollercoaster, better, oh, so much better than _anything_ Santa Monica pier or Disneyland combined had to offer. Ok, well, they didn’t offer falls from 15,000 feet downwards - or, not yet.

“ _Yiiii…_ ” Trixie’s hands shot up to her mouth, keeping the sound in. 

“... _hah…_ ” Lucifer finished softly into her ear, chuckling warmly as he continued his upward glide. The thermals lifted them quickly. Now they sailed the air currents more gently, soaring high over Monterey Bay aquarium, heading south for Camel River state beach. 

Trixie sighed in joy. “You’re simply the _best_ , Lucifer.” 

“Of course I am, did you expect less?” he responded, foreseeably, but then… _did she just feel him peck her hair?_

Trixie blinked in surprise. She must have just imagined it, Lucifer _never_ did things like that. 

A black-headed gull gave a cry, questioningly, close to them as they floated by its side, riding the thermals. 

Trixie knew that humans would just see an air density anomaly shimmering in the air when looking directly at them. The bird’s behaviour confirmed that it obviously saw… something more. 

“From the outside, humans would see what you see over dark asphalt in the full sunshine when the heated air wafts and swirls upward”, Lucifer had explained on one of their first rides, when she’d questioned him towards the ‘being cloaked to prying human eyes’ thing. 

Trixie mimicked the “ha-ha-ha” sound of the seagull and giggled in delight when the bird replied, craning its neck in confusion to spot the _seagull-not-a-seagull_ source of the sound. 

“Good, you’re getting close, urchin”, Lucifer praised her, only to do a perfect imitation of a black-headed seagull himself. It even sounded sophisticated, arrogant, british… if that was even possible for a seagull. 

The bird blinked in surprise, gave a brief, sharp “ha-ha!”, then left. 

“Did you just speak sea-gull-ish, Lucifer?” she asked, curious. 

“Of _course_ I did. Told him that I’m much larger, stronger and all-around divine, but that I’m _not_ interested in snatching away his mate or eating his young, that it’s his lucky day.” 

Trixie’s eyes went wide. “Really? I mean… _really-really?_ ”

“I don’t lie, urchin, you know that.” 

“Yes, I do, Lucifer, but you like to poke me often enough. Admit it, Satan.”

"Well, you're not wrong there, urchin," he admitted. They both chuckled. 

“By the way, what did _I_ say to...it? Him? The seagull, I mean… was it a ‘he’?”

“Yes, he’s a ‘he’,” Lucifer confirmed, then started to giggle. “If you must know, you kindly informed him that you’ll be eating his rump arse feathers, then shower him in cookie crumbs,” Lucifer stated dryly. “ _That’s_ why he looked so utterly confused, poor thing.”

Trixie broke into guffaws while she felt him laugh against her back. She shook her head at her feeble first try at seagull-ish. 

“I love it that you can speak all languages, Lucifer.” She thought about her school project, the “marine sea life” topic she’d chosen in class. “Can you- can you also talk to _sea creatures_ ? Fish? Or even, I don’t know, _jellyfish?_ ” _If that was even possible._

“Of _course_ I can, urchin, I mean - is water wet? Does a Kardashian selfie? Does the President brag about himself? Of _course_ I can. How can the Lightbringer _not_ be able to communicate _especially_ with sea creatures?” he huffed indignantly. 

His wings rustled in annoyance. 

Or was it a fresh breeze?

At her tiny, lost ‘oh’, he felt obliged to elaborate. 

“Beatrice, listen, first project lecture of today. I’ll have you know that about 90% of all sea creatures communicate via fluorescence or bioluminescence, light and colours. Octopuses do it with their rapid colour changes, they don’t just camouflage - they _talk_ . Chit-chatty little things, by the way. But _they’re_ just the slightly-better known tip of the iceberg.” 

He sighed like a pained professor when his students ask the same ignorant questions for the umphteenth time.

“It’s just that your human eyes are not fit to spot most of the wavelengths sea creatures use, humans can’t see all the amazing stripes, nets, patterns and signals that they use and exchange. Believe me, it’s absolutely _magnificent._ However, some of your… some human scientists started to note now that they can fine-tune cameras to spot wavelengths your eyes don’t get, so there’s hope for you that you’ll be able to see it one day, too.”

That was a mind-boggling piece of information! 

Trixie’s brain went into overdrive, thinking on how to incorporate that knowledge in her project. Knowledge that most of her teachers wouldn’t have. How could she incorporate.... 

A wind gush, accompanied by a singing note - a windy rustling song in angelic feathers.

“Hold on tight, Beatrice”, Lucifer warned as she felt his grip tighten around her. Warmth and safety spread through her veins. 

Suddenly, they shot up 20, 30, 40 feet with an updraft, then “....aaaand down we go” he commented, completely relaxed, as they dropped into an air hole, plummeting about the same distance, where his wings caught the riding currents again with a soft _whump_. 

_This was so magnificent, all of it!_

Trixie wanted shout and sing with joy. 

In her excitement she forgot, just for a second, her deal of “no unprompted hugs or PDA” she’d made with the Devil months ago - she squeezed his big hands that still held her safely, then kissed one of them to vent her feelings. 

_Ah-oh-urgh. Sh- shiiit!_

She rubbed his hand as if to remove a stain. 

“Sorry, Lucifer, I- I totally forgot…” she muttered, embarrassed that she’d ignored their deal like that. 

Their deal, it was at the root to her own, not-just-mum-defined relationship to Lucifer. Well, they’d sealed it even before Lucifer and mum became a thing, thus she treasured it and didn’t want to endanger it in any way.

Formerly, he would’ve shaken his hand as if catching chickenpox but over the last weeks, after her narrow escape of a human trafficking ring and her friend’s Zoé’s rescue, courtesy of Lucifer and Maze, he’d tentatively opened up towards her. 

With each cookie delivery along their deal, each game or story-telling night, each grifted load of ice cream (against mum’s orders), every time where he picked her up at school, or - best of all - with each occasion for air-borne bonding time, their relationship had deepened, had taken root and developed its own branches on the lively tree of their sprouting little family. 

Now, after her blunder she feared old habits, feared him treating her like a funny pet again. 

But to her surprise, she heard him chuckle softly, a sound that spread from his chest to her encased body. And, wonder of wonders, he even squeezed her closer to his chest briefly. Trixie exhaled, relieved. 

“You know, it’s fine, Beatrice, as long as you don’t make a habit out of it. I mean, if you want to, you can kiss my hand when I pick you up at school”, he teased, “maybe do a curtsy to the Lord of Hell?” 

Trixie made a disgusted sound and tried to elbow him, horrified at the mental picture but missed. 

“My, my, we’re easy to poke today, are we? I take it that your wet affection conveys your excitement, did it?” he added with a serious undertone, probing. 

Right, _that_. Warmth filled her.

“Yes, actually”, she confirmed, relieved that he didn’t make a fuss about her slipping up, “I’m happy that you still try to learn _Spawn-handling_ , Lucifer. You’re really doing _great_.” 

“Of course I do. But I also have a lovely teacher, mind you - the best.” 

He beat his wings once, twice, with the mighty _whump_ she’d come to associate with Lucifer’s wings in action and they easily accelerated 10 meters or more, her stomach only wooping slightly. 

_Getting used to Devil airlines, check!_

She inhaled the salty ocean breeze.

After a pause, Lucifer spoke again. “What do you say? Should we have another dive, before we join your mother at Whalers Cove?” 

“YESYESYES!! Ah, Lucifer… is that the bay in Point Lobos state natural reserve, where mum says I can study marine life for my school project best?” 

“Yes. You’ve packed everything you need for your project, right?” he asked, funnily sounding _Daddy-ish_ . She snorted. _No, Step-Devillish._

“Yes, of course I have. Everything’s on your balcony, in my green backpack next to mum’s picnic cooling box. You’ll get our stuff with your next trip back home, do you?” 

“I will.” She could hear the smile in his voice and wondered if this was because she’d said ‘back home’ to his penthouse. 

Then she felt him adjust his grip on her and snuggled into his arms expectantly as best as she could. 

She always enjoying the warmth of their rare close-contacts; it flooded her with these strange but pleasant feelings - she still didn’t have a word for the _safety and peacefulness_ that she felt when they flew together, which contrasted so nicely to the tingly feels of excitement when they plummeted. 

His wings rustled, she felt him adjust their mid-air position. She knew the signs, knew what came next. Her heart started beating faster in anticipation. 

“Right. Here we go. You ready for dive number two, young lady?”

“ _YOU BET!_ ” she shouted, jubilant, heart hammering wildly.

Their joint laughter mixed with the howling wind as they plunged into the next steep dive. 

The green-brown landscape rushed towards them, 

_the glistening blue ocean winked at them,_

_the warm salty smell engulfed them,_

_the radiant rays of sunshine tickled,_

_all spinning into one, swirling, sparkling._

_hellish chaos,_

_heavenly joy._


	2. Unwanted Tree Climbing and Winging the Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deckerstar are too magnetic for each other for their own good (or to be teen-embarassment proof).  
> And no, I don't accept bills for rotting teeth! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things marked with an asterisk like this* have their roots in my canon-divergence story "A deal with the Devil and a broken Halleluhja", but you don't need to read it if you just accept "there is some history" for this story :)  
> Many, many thanks to the sweet @ManuHerz79 for logic-reading my chapters - it is awesome to have such a nice beta reader *throws kisses, social-distancing proof*

Chloe heard them, sensed them, long before she could see anything. Suddenly, there was music in the air and in her mind, like a warm, content summer breeze in her lungs when the sun sets. 

Plus, she faintly tasted starlight. 

She’d come to associate both with Lucifer’s wings being out, ever since he’d let her touch them on that one magical night on the beach, let her touch _him,_ his inner core, his very being*. 

In the distance, their jubilant voices and laughter told her all she needed to know about why they were late. 

Her features broke into a huge grin. She peered up into the skies eagerly, although she _knew_ that she’d not be able to see them, yet.

She’d set up ‘base camp’ with her large strand bag full of towels, sunscreen and part of their swimming plus snorkeling gear between the trees in a secluded spot. The patch of forest was close to Carmelo Meadow Trail, the hiking path they’d soon follow down to Whaler’s Cove beach. 

She’d chosen the clearing wisely, it was well hidden from prying human eyes. This had become their favorite strategy when they fancied an excursion with Lucifer being their transport vehicle of choice: Using a hidden spot connected to a much frequented area to suddenly ‘emerge’. 

It nicely enabled Devil airlines to pop out of another plane of existence swiftly, or to shed what they called his ‘cloaking mode’, without raising unwanted attention, having people question their sanity - or worse, catch them on _video_.

She couldn’t stop smiling, she simply couldn’t. 

Witnessing their fun, their mutual bonding always made her smile in circles. She loved how her little monkey adored her boyfriend who happened to be Satan himself. 

Trixie respected Lucifer, valued his advice (in particular when it was mischievous) much more so than respecting _hers_ for that matter, even on the rare occasions where Lucifer set up strict rules for her to follow with his natural archangel authority that he seldom employed - and she also took Lucifer’s guidelines much more than Dan’s, very much to the latter’s neverending annoyance. 

And how weird was that, having Satan back up your parenting? _Or... rather not_ , when she thought of the latest ice cream-candy ‘event’. 

_Mischievous little thieves, both of them._

Chloe was so happy that Lucifer slowly, tentatively overcame his millennia-engraved, Hell-forged fear of touching children*. That he managed to fight his own inner demons (haha) with her daughter, no less, filled her with singing joy. 

There were even occasions, nowadays, where Lucifer was acting like a responsible Step-Devil. (Well, ok, fine, the occasions where he’d rather lead the mischief were still 5:1, she’d say.)

Well, at least _sometimes_ he gets the hang of it, when he didn’t act like her second child. She smiled inwardly.

Listening with sharpened senses, she heard (and smelled - _ha!_ ) her boyfriends’ wing beats come closer. Finally she spotted the tell-tale shimmering in the air on the other side of the trail, in a few hundred yards distance. 

Then Trixie’s excited, breathless voice, booming much too loud, “...there she is, Lucifer, look. To the right, down there! It’s mum! _HELL-O MUM…!_ ”

Chloe heard his sonore british voice advise in mock-concern, “Keep your excitement under control, urchin, will you please? The Detective will _kill_ us if we’re spotted, won’t she? Remember what happened last time, when we were seen by those hikers, in Bryce Canyon...?”

Foreseeably, both burst into fits of mischievous giggles that came closer and closer, the wafting, shimmering air density anomaly now blurring over the hiking trail... over the nearest treetops... then directly above her clearing. Now she smelled and sensed the starlight she’d come to associate with Lucifer’s wings being out*.

“I can already hear you, you know that guys, right?” Chloe addressed the thin air. 

“Oh, sh- shimmy, we’ve blown our cover,” that was Trixie, simultaneous with Lucifer’s “I dearly hope you can, Detective, I’d be disappointed in your feeble human senses otherwise.” Again, wildly joyful fits of laughter filled the air from both of them.

Chloe shook her head and pulled a fake-stern look onto her features, arms on her hips. 

“Down you go, HERE. _NOW_ ,” she instructed in her best mum voice and pointed towards a spot near her feet. 

The wind gushed over her face with the strong beats of Lucifer’s magnificent wings directly above her. The sensing and smelling of their light and song grew stronger and stronger, while the leaves of the trees rustled in response to the gushes.

Finally, she heard a soft _thump_ as they touched down directly in front of her as instructed. _Ha_. Good. 

They emerged out of nothingness, as Lucifer dropped the cloaking as if he’d let a velvet medieval, rippling cloak glide from his shoulders. 

She observed how the ‘cloaking’ receded down- and inwards into itself and into whatever plane of existence Lucifer had borrowed it from, like a droplet dissolving after hitting the water’s surface. It amazed her, again and again. 

_Even that looks elegant with him._

“There you are, finally. Did you have fun?” Chloe didn’t manage to uphold her stern look. Honestly, she still couldn’t stop smiling, taking in Trixie’s flushed, excited face and sparkling eyes. 

“Detective, I’ll have you know that your spawn has rendered me half-deaf by now, squealing into my ears like a wounded guinea pig”, Lucifer complained, but Chloe saw how his warm, affectionate his brown eyes looked down on her daughter’s head. 

He demounted their gear with quick, practiced ease, folding his large, glowing, singing wings at his back. The feathers puffed up a little bit, then settled into their place, rustling.

Trixie rushed into Chloe’s arms and squeezed her, bursting into excited, specific, step by step travel reports. Chloe hugged her back, enjoying the rare occasion where her daughter still did that. 

Flying with Lucifer was one of the few triggers for such ‘childish things you did as a 5-year old’. 

_Oh, how fast they grow up_ , Chloe thought, then made a face when she recalled her eccentric old aunt’s ennerving voice, saying the same about _her_ at family gatherings. She silently apologized to Auntie Marthe for all the eye rolls and faces she’d made behind her back. 

As Trixie stepped back, something white and glowing inserted itself between mother and daughter. As she looked up she couldn’t help but smile at her Devil who just stood a few feet behind them, a mischievous grin on his face. 

He’d stretched out his left wing in such a way that he first snatched, then herded her daughter towards himself. As always, his wings acted so amazingly independent, as the 5th and 6th extremities that they were. 

“H- hey… Lucifer?” Trixie squealed in surprise, “What in Dad’s name are you doing?”

His dark eyes glistened like amused black beetles as he cocked his head to the left side and raised an eyebrow at Trixie.

“My, my, Beatrice, _nothing_ in his name, as you surely know, but _everything_ in my own. Did we not forget something, mmmh?” he quipped. 

Finding herself wing-caged, the girl turned around to look up at her grinning Step-Devil, first a little bit confused, then with a spreading smile, as he slowly did what he’d never done before: He opened his arms voluntarily, inviting her to hug him. 

Trixie did not hesitate one second _._ The moment she understood his intentions, she wrapped her arms tightly around his torso, snuggling her face into his shirt. 

“Thank you _so very much_ for the absolutely _amazing_ flight, Lucifer!” she murmured warmly into his chest. 

“You’re welcome to Devil airlines anytime, spawn”, he murmured back, patting her shoulders in response, still a little bit awkwardly. 

Chloe felt her heart swell for both of her loved ones. 

But when she’d thought that she’d be able to remain an onlooker, capturing their ‘moment’ on her phone which she’d pulled from her pants’ hind pocket, she’d clearly made her plans without the Devil.

Lucifer flashed her a grin from over Trixie’s head, then used his right wing to snatch her with surprising strength into the group hug in one fluent, elegant movement.

 _What the…Lucifer,_ really _...? That’s really what he desired? Wow._

THEN she wasn’t going to resist. At. All.

Holding on tightly onto her two favorite beings in the universe, she felt how they both got caged by her Archangel’s wings, with his wing shoulders rubbing gentle circles on both of their backs. As always when he did that, the song and light she felt inside her chest was nearly _overwhelming_.

She lifted her face to his, her heart constricting with painful joy as she smiled into his warm brown eyes that spoke of his overflowing love.

He looked so young and radiant with his playful smile, a mixture of innocent proudness and boyish mischief - because he’d managed to surprise them like that. 

But he also seemed a tiny bit shocked and confused by his own actions. Plus, wind-swept purls on his forehead, did she have to say more? Adorable came not even close!

She couldn’t resist, closed her eyes and raised her face to his, while he lowered his lips towards hers… 

Suddenly, they were forcefully pushed apart. 

_“Argh, it’s getting too hot in this five star wing tent!_ And all this smooching is embarrassing, save that for tonight, will you, please?” Trixie huffed with all the intense suffering of a 13 year old teen at their parents’ lack of… everything, of _being non-teen_. 

“Come _on_ , let’s get to the beach, I can’t _wait_ to start my project and _tell my friends were we are.”_

Trixie beamed up at them, bouncing excitedly, having finally wrestled out of their cocoon. She brandished her new phone in front of them to reinforce her desire. 

But not without giving Lucifer’s wing a thankful little stroke, soaking up the warm fuzzy sensations it provided, smiling thanks into his eyes. 

_Once you had the chance to touch Angel wings… she still can’t get enough of it_ , Chloe thought, _and who am I to blame her? Surely not obsessive wing-preener Me!_

Obediently, she and Lucifer let go, smiling into each other’s eyes, exchanging a silent promise. _Later…_.

Suddenly, Lucifer tipped back his head and the Devil’s heartfelt laughter echoed around the clearing, answered by the _ha-ha-ha_ of flock of confused black-headed seagulls travelling beach-wards above their heads. 

Trixie looked a little bit bewildered while Chloe thought she knew why he was laughing; she’d ask him later. She smiled at her daughter and fixed a strand of her dark blonde hair behind her ear, which had escaped her braid earlier during her flight with Lucifer. 

“Fine, Trix, you go ahead and scout the way, right? Find us a nice place to set up our camp.” She held out the beach bag to her daughter. “I’m just waiting for Lucifer...” she nodded towards him “...to come back with our remaining stuff”.

Trixie grinned like the little sharp weasel she was. “Fine, mum! I’ll have your back and give you your _space_. But _only_ if we’ll get ice cream later. Deal?”

Her eyes seeked Lucifer’s. 

Chloe frowned. “Wait, _what?_ ” 

The girl waggled her eyebrows expressively at her step-Devil, who beamed proudly at her in return. “ _Deal!_ Well played, urchin,” he called after her, as she snatched the bag and scooted off towards Carmelo Meadow trail, bouncing along with her brimming kid-slash-teen energy. 

“ _Yess Yess YESSSS!_ ” She sang, then shot up her right hand into the air without looking back, her front fingers spread with the victory sign.

“You know, you’re really, really rubbing off on her, Lucifer” Chloe sighed indignantly, brows still furrowed. Sometimes she was unsure if she liked it. 

Lucifer chuckled. “Of course that is a good thing, Detective”, he said softly as if he’d read her thoughts, “it’s a good training for life, isn’t it?” 

Chloe opened her mouth to protest when his eyes locked onto hers and his gaze became heated. His fingertips tenderly brushed her face, as if they were kissing her, right before his lips would follow the same path. She felt a warm finger lift her chin, bringing her closer, closer.... 

She felt more than she heard his murmuring “ _let’s catch up where left off, shall we, love?_ ” His voice caressed her sensitive skin like liquid silk.

Chloe tried to resist his dark, enthralling gaze, his warm hands, tried to resist her own rising desire to touch him in return. Her eyes fell onto his soft, slightly parted lips approaching hers, slow, oh so slow... 

Yes, _she tried_ , she really _did_. But...

His misbehaving left wing had a life on its own.

It was _always_ the left one, the one that had its roots where his heart was.

The wing had sneaked behind her back unbeknownst to her, then suddenly snatched her and urged her forward again in one firm but fluid movement, pressing her resolutely against it’s owners’ chest, as if to say ‘ _See? THAT’s your parking lot, don’t you know that, Detective?_ ’ 

It even had the _nerve_ to _sing into her soul_ with sparkling joy, swirling and stirring shades of lush green, turquoise and gold, the colours sparkling _everywhere_ into her mind, and rustle and puff its feathers up in victory! 

“Sorry not sorry for the little sneaky bugger”, the wing’s owner purred. She felt his words more than she heard him, with her ear firmly parked on his chest. 

_I choose not sorry_ , was all she managed to think, before she lost herself in these exquisite feelings she obviously got addicted to as of lately - his hands on her face, fingertips kissing every inch of her skin, lips brushing hers firmly, his warm tongue caressing her bottom lip to test its welcome, his smell and taste, his hard body lines pressed against hers, his wing shoulders massaging her back, rustling and singing with their joy, combing her hair out of her face…... 

When they finally broke apart to catch their breaths, she had to struggle to find back to reality. She couldn’t _believe_ how easily Lucifer could make her lose control these days. Then she noticed…

_Urgh!_

...looking down, she discovered that her arms were wrapped around Lucifer’s neck, one hand messing with the curls at his nape. His hands had lifted her up with ease, cupping her rear end in that _perfect_ way she _loved_ , firm and with his hidden strength, and…. uh oh. Her legs were curled around his waist. 

_What the…? Oh, no._ She’d climbed him.

Again.

She blinked in surprise, then she pecked his cheek. How to go back to normal?

“Let’s catch up with Trixie, shall we?” 

“ _Detective…_ ” He whined at his loss when she started sliding down his torso. 

Chloe giggled at the disbelief in his face. He even _pouted_ like a little boy deprived of his favorite candy. 

Gosh, he was so damn _cute_ when he did that - she almost gave in again!

 _It’s the wings_ , she realized. His wings, their ever-present song, the divine energy only she could sense*, their crisp, clean smell of sparking starlight… it was so enthralling.

On top of him being who he was - as if he needed any reinforcement.

And all of this mixed with the waft of spicy herbs, under a wonderful blue summer sky…. Yes, she _was_ immune to his charms, more than any other human being in the world. But when he had his wings out like that, when she could feel their vibrations, when she got drawn into his _Angel synaesthesia*_ it was _totally_ her undoing. 

Others would lose their minds. 

She just seemed to lose her inhibitions. 

_Well, so, there’s that._

“Lucifer, stop it and tug your wings away. We’re never going to make it to the beach if you don’t stop your shenanigans”, she scolded with fake-anger. 

“Oh, you’ve _wounded_ me _so_ , Detective,” he put his hand over his heart, large brown eyes pleading, mimicking being hit. “Do you mean to say that you didn’t enjoy _climbing me like a tree?_ ” he grinned like the Devil he was, cocking one eyebrow at her playfully, then liking his own front finger in slow motion as if he wanted to… 

_Argh, what should I do with you?_

Chloe braced herself - payback was in order. 

“ _Did_ I enjoy it...? Mmmh, well, let’s see… I _think_ I might have, just a little….“ she cocked her head innocently to one side and closed the little distance between them, opening her lips just a tiny fraction. She saw how his opened in return, his eyes going wide. She smiled at him, then slipped one hand into his half-open shirt. She started to caress his chest which immediately produced appreciative cute purring noises from him. Her other hand sneaked carefully around his torso while she held his transfixed gaze, closing the distance to his lips with hers. 

His pupils were already blown wide, mesmerized by her actions as she’d been just seconds before. It consoled her, somehow, to see that he was not immune to her either. _Divine justice? Well, let’s be thankful for small favours._

Finally, her hand found what she’d been looking for at this back. She stroked, then pressed that particular spot under his left wing joint in one fluent movement. 

With a loud swish, his wings vanished. 

“ _That’s_ better, for now”, she grinned up at him, pecking his lips, eyes sparkling with mischief. She’d lately found her personal _wings-in-and-out_ spot on his back - funny thing was that it only worked when _she_ did it, no one else.

Another thing to add to her ever-growing list of “all things strange and wonderful” between the Devil and his very own miracle.

The stunned look on his face was totally worth it. 

“You little rascal, how you’ve _played_ me. Well done, Detective…!” 

Lucifer chuckled deep in his throat, then grinned. “But you _know_ that this means that retribution is in order, tonight…? Imagine what I will do to you...”, he purred seductively. 

Chloe straightened herself up and squared her jaw to finally break the spell they both obviously couldn’t stop weaving around each other, hands on her hips, chin jutted forward in resolve. 

_Someone needs to be the responsible adult here._

“Well, what you _should_ do for now is get back to the penthouse and fetch our stuff - or do you want to spend a day on the beach without your favorite snacks...?” she reprimanded.

“Why, detective, my all-time favorite snack is right here.” He reached for her while she danced backwards, shaking her head. 

“Lucifer, you know what I mean… _pretty please?_ ” She blinked, using her very own version of large blue puppy eyes on him. 

He _never_ could resist when she did that. 

Foreseeably, he relented.

“Very well, Detective, if that is what you desire,” he sighed like a burdened man. “I’ll be back in a moment. Wait for me here?” he asked hopefully. She smiled and nodded. “I’m not going anywhere, but _only_ if you hurry up, Lucifer.”

“Fine, fine!” he held out his hands placatingly.

And with a mighty swoosh of wings and one second of blue shimmering in the air before her, he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The early post of this chapter is for all of you who may be in the urgent need for a little bit of fluff and sweetness - I hope this helps to make you smile, and if it's only briefly or a little bit.... *sends hugs*


	3. Family issues with the chocolate treat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More sweet Deckerstar banter and a secret emoji language - we're getting to the beach and the action, I promise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so very much to @ManuHerz79 for beta-ing this little fluffy story of mine!! It is such an encouragement and joy...  
> @Lucifans: I hope my two cents may be able to put a smile on your face when you're down... <3

A second later Lucifer re-emerged on the penthouse balcony. He’d made peace with his wings lately, since they’d become a permanent source of joy and accomplishment in interaction with Chloe and Beatrice. Flying with his two favorite Decker women turned out to be… just so good. 

And all the preening attention that he received recently.... he sighed in bliss when he just _thought_ about it. 

Serving as the troop transporter was a small price he was willing to pay. 

A proud, uninhibited smile appeared on Lucifer’s face as he mused about Chloe’s reaction to him just five minutes earlier. He knew exactly that his wings had played their part - one of the reasons he could stand them now a bit more. Just a tiny bit, of course.

Yes, he was happy and proud that Chloe was immune to his powers, that she could play him like that. Despite the divine synaesthetic overload that they caused her - her in particular. Beatrice was less affected as a second-generation miracle.

For him, it was just another facet of Chloe’s independent personality, her radiant inner strength. It was one of the things he deeply appreciated, nay, _loved_ about her - that she could surprise him _any given minute_. 

Nothing, nothing was ever foreseeable with her, unlike with other women. Or men.

 _Well, well, Detective, not_ completely _immune._ He giggled to himself and sighed in delight as he remembered her legs around his waist, her hand in his hair, her sweet lips on his. 

How could she even be taken by him? That was an even greater miracle than her existence, considering she knew exactly who he was. He was one very lucky Devil, wasn’t he?

Lucifer spotted their sports bag full of snorkeling and apnoe diving gear (in his case) set aside on the balcony and grabbed it. Technically, he didn’t need to breathe underwater, which had its perks when diving. 

But, well, maybe... when he was with the detective, he _might_ have to breathe, who knew? He intended to find out today if his mortality stitch with her impacted his divine apnoe abilities underwater. 

Besides the bag stood their cooler box, nicely packed full with drinks and ice (Whiskey, stashed on ‘outside rocks’, in his case), sandwiches and snacks. Beatrice’s beloved green backpack was leaning in on it, a fishing net handle stuck out of the top. 

He picked all three items up and slung the green backpack around his shoulder. Wearing the leather jacket and his white casual shirt saved his suits, and, more importantly, his impression from being ruined by the mundane luggage - he was glad that he’d listened to Chloe. She’d said that she loved him in it - italian leather, of course - so the case was clear:The leather jacket it was, for him. 

Everything for her that helped Hell freeze over.

He grinned and flared his wings, primaries stretched wide. He’d lately started to enjoy his sun’s rays on them and the soft breeze that caressed and kissed his feathers. 

Again. 

After all the time of loathing them. 

And cutting them off repeatedly. 

Which Chloe had begged him not to do, ever again. 

And when she said “please” in that special voice, looking at him with these blue-green eyes full of emotions… _feels…_. he wasn’t able to deny her anything. 

Least of all access to all parts of his body. And soul.

He checked the gear. One wing went right through the green backpack, which never failed to make both of his ladies swoon about it in awe. 

He smiled, remembering their faces at his demonstrations, when his feeble attempts to explain string theory and the bending of the space-time continuum had failed spectacularly, so he’d resolved to hands-on demonstrations. 

Which was more his jam anyway. 

Warmth rose in his chest when he thought about their adoring eyes like a gentle breeze full of warm summer-herb saturated air. 

With a mighty swoosh of wings he set off, straight through dimension 666, back to the clearing. 

_Where my love waits for me_ , his heart sang in happiness. Uninvited, all by its own. Like a knee-jerk reaction.

 _Bloody Hell, I’m getting sappy_ . _But do I mind? No. Not in the slightest, I don’t. Not when it comes to her._

_To us. To my… family._

The warmth that blossomed inside him was not just that of a newborn sun..

It was that of an entire newborn Universe.

_***************_

Lucifer materialized over the clearing and hovered on the upwelling warm air, wings rustling softly, still cloaked. 

There she was! 

He felt a smile tuck at the corners of his mouth at the sight of his beloved waiting for him.

Chloe’d leaned back against a tree trunk, arms folded in front of her chest, chin lifted upwards, soaking up the warm early-summer sun on her face with closed eyes. 

And even better, with that adorable little smile on her lips that told him that she was content with herself, with life in general - and thus likely, by extension, also with him. 

_Good._

“Daaaarling, I’m baa-aack” he announced while he materialized, drawing out the syllables in a skilled imitation of so many happy TV couples, borrowed straight from this _white-collar_ TV-series they’d started binging lately. (Funny thing though, how this Agent Burke reminded him of the mad professor who’d killed himself after poisoning the Detective. The chap in the series was actually lovely, so unlike said professor.) 

“Look, everything’s here, we’re good to go.” He smiled as she opened her eyes, He held the the diving gear bag and the cooler box in front of him like an offering, as if it weighed nothing. 

Because for him, they didn’t. 

She smiled her beautiful, radiant smile in response, which made his heart flutter unfailingly. Then she cocked her head regarding him and his offering, a teasing grin started to spread. 

“Mmmh, you were quite fast, weren’t you? I _think_ that such a good Devil boy needs a little reward. Don’t you agree?” She pushed herself from the trunk, closing the distance between them in two strides, eyes sparkling.

Her voice had taken on a slightly seductive tone. She liked to do that, lately, when they were alone, and he so, so loved it when his stern Detective became a little bit more playful - he cherished these rare occasions, even. 

Predictably, his heart started to beat faster in an instant. 

_It’s pathetic, really,_ he thought, _but I don’t desire it any other way._

“Of course I agree, Shahine-Lyrah.” 

The Enochian word for “my heart and wings” sounded always like exotic bird song from his lips.

“Your Devil _always_ deserve a reward, don’t you know that, Detective?”, he purred, trying his best to cover that his voice sounded so- so annoyingly affected _._

“If you please? I’d like my reward here”, he pointed to his left cheek, “here” (right cheek), “and most of all, here.” He bend down a bit, pursed his lips and closed his eyes expectantly. 

He felt how she drew him in for a kiss at the lapels of his leather jacket. “I love that jacket on you, by the way…” she murmured against his lips, inhaling deeply. “... _ISS_ \- _incredibly-sexy Satan_ … _come here..._ ” 

Warmth filled his chest, rushed through his veins. Lucifer concentrated on the wonderful feeling of her lips on his, her hand cupping his jaw, her flowery scent filling his nostrils until.… 

...he dropped his cargo. 

The jars in the box rattled and clincked, the bag with the diving gear just missed her feet. She caught the box before it toppled over, saving its contents from spilling onto the forest floor. 

“Whoa, careful!” Chloe had reacted in the blink of an eye. Well-trained detective.

Lucifer couldn’t help but look contrite. “I- I’m really sorry, darling. In m- my defense, you should know by now that you can affect me like that…” he swallowed, then scowled at her when she started laughing at him.

“ _Please_ , Detective,” he huffed. “Shall we not catch up with young Beatrice? Who knows what shenanigans she’s cooking up without her favorite Devil by her side to guide her?” 

The _distract-by-daughter_ strategy was one of his favorites. 

It usually worked very, _very_ well on Chloe and she didn’t seem to have seen through this particular distraction maneuver yet. 

Which, _well_. It was just a matter of time until she got it. She always saw through him eventually.

As if on cue, Chloe’s phone buzzed and she took it out. 

“Oh no, no, no, NO! And have I mentioned NO? Not a bloody new case on your free day, ruining my view on your new bikini,” he groaned. 

She shook her head and smiled ‘it’s not that’ at him and held up her phone, showing him that it was Trixie calling. She took the call. 

“Heeey monkey…” she listened. 

“Oh, uh, yes, we were… mmmh, yes. Lucifer just arrived with our stuff, we’re… um, just a bit late....” 

She blushed, _lovely!_

Lucifer guessed that the spawn had expertly injected something about “sex stuff”, just to needle her mother. 

He full-heartedly approved.

Come to think about it, Americans were often so _prude_ when it came to mentioning - not even seeing! - things like nakedness. Even between married, loving couples, they made a big fuss about it. And even if someone spied into their home and saw someone naked, it was considered something the _couple_ was to be blamed for. 

_WTF?_ How should that be the couples’ fault, if someone went all voyeur on them? 

Not all cultures handled it that way. He intended to do his best to spare the urchin a fate of this air of pent-up-ness. By setting out a good, dedicated example for such a loving relationship. With the Detective, of course. 

And with Maze as her babysitter, she had at least a good head start already to immunize her against useless pent-up-ness, anyway.

He quickly texted Beatrice a brief set of emojis to let her know that she’d succeeded in making her mother blush.

And that he full-heartedly approved.

🙌👏👮😇😳😈👍👍👍

“....sure, we’re going to come over now. Did you find a nice place for us at the picnic site?” 

Lucifer pocketed his phone and watched his Detective, the way she listened to what was obviously a high tide of excitement on the other end of the line, nodding, smiling and humming in affirmation. 

He loved how his love glowed from the inside when she interacted with her daughter. It was so much better than the desperate, fierce glow of determination (even that to die) he’d first witnessed when Trixie had been abducted by Malcolm.

Both kinds of glow came from the same place in her heart. 

He recognized that now, thanks to Linda: Love - the only thing that multiplied when it was shared.

And, well, yes, the girl had grown on him, too. At least that was what Linda had led him to recognize in one of their latest sessions.

 _Malcolm! That piece of shit!_

Lucifer had personally made sure, when he was back in Hell, that Malcolm’s punishment loop really fitted his crimes. He’d made a habit of stepping into his cell whenever he’d needed a cheer-me-up, in between extinguishing demon rebellions or figuring out new automatisms for Hell to run. Just to recuperate. 

Oh, he’d made _sure_ the bastard suffered! 

Starving Malcolm of everything he had a hunger for. 

Tweaking his memories, so that the loop-surrogate image of himself could _really_ bring Hell on earth down on the bastard, back in his penthouse, without being interrupted by his dear prick of a brother. 

Or, what he loved best, having the detective shoot him in the hangar with a hidden gun that Malcolm hadn’t deprived her of, when the bastard had threatened her life and that of Beatrice. 

_Of his Love and his… urchin_. 

Lucifer sometimes tweaked the loop to have the Douche of all people kill Malcolm, for real the second time. By having Dan arrive with a SWOT team instead of him, vulnerable Lucifer (just armed with a paper plane and his words, as it were). The being-killed-by-Dan loop twist was just thrown in for flair, to annoy the bastard’s soul, by having their “partner” Malcolm had forced Dan to be finally kill him off for good. 

But there was a side effect. Witnessing the last hour of Malcolm’s miserable existence over and over had given Lucifer quite a fill-in of how the scumbag had treated little Beatrice, how he’d scared her to death repeatedly before Chloe had arrived. By holding a gun to her head just for the fun of it, with little Beatrice squeehzing her eyes shut, expecting the explosion that would kill her, only to mock her sobbing by mad laughter that “it was all just a joke”. By taking away her stuffed toy and cutting its head off, just to make her cry and plead, laughing at her tears and agony. 

And he’d witnessed how utterly brave the little girl had been during the entire abduction ordeal. 

A little copy of her mum, if he dared to say so. 

Overseeing Malcolm’s Hell loop had kindled something warm-protective in his chest towards Beatrice that, meanwhile, seemed to have taken permanent residence there. 

Walking by his side, the detective was still _glowing_ animatedly. 

“...yes, Trix, sounds awesome. Text me some pictures of the picnic recreation spot you’ve chosen” (which suggested that Beatrice’s description was not really enlightening) “or share your location via WhatsApp, we’ll find you. Bye!” Chloe hung up. 

Lucifer smiled and gestured elegantly. 

“Lead the way, Mylady. Care to trade?” He offered her the green backpack while he beckoned her to hand the heavy box over to him. 

His overworked detective SO deserved to be spoiled and cared for - _anything_ to see her smile, see her glow with love for both of them the way she just did. 

_Heaven-sent_ came to mind. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they walked along the trail towards Whaler’s Cove, both of their phones pinged repeatedly, his mostly a second before hers (ok, well, it _was_ the most sophisticated model on the market one could get for money, Lucifer did nothing by halves). 

Trixie’s excitement at being at the beach and having her first, brand-new phone _plus_ the prospect of the Lucifer-promised snorkeling and even diving lessons channeled itself into a maelstrom of pictures and messages.

“I’m sure her mobile’s data tariff for the year will be used up in just a week,” Chloe chuckled, scrolling through all the pics her daughter had sent. 

Finally, Lucifer saw her wrinkling her forehead. He thought he knew why - she’d _never_ got that strings-of-emojis language that he and Beatrice used to communicate.

“This one’s for you, Lucifer,” she said and held her mobile up for him to decipher the message. “What does she say...?”

😍🐋✅👍👍, 😎😈🌊🐬 ➕ 👀🍩🎂🌎❗ 😎💖🌈🌟🎉

Lucifer grinned proudly as he spelled it out for her. 

“Beatrice says she’s picked the BEST picnic spot EVER, capital letters, that she can’t wait to go diving with me - look how elegantly she’s phrased it, Detective, the wave and the dolphin form a kind of heart, and...” 

Lucifer hesitated, his mouth forming an adorable surprised “o” while he stared disbelievingly at her phone.

“...and- and that she’s spotted…. the sweetest treat in the entire world and that her heart’s doing a, a... _rainbow star party…?_ ” 

His voiced crept up at the end, as did his eyebrows, he scoffed.

“Are you sure? I thought there was no tourist shop or café at the natural reserve picnic places…” Chloe replied, totally clueless, ogling the phone’s cryptic message.

Lucifer huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “Beatrice, she- she’s referring - can you believe it, Love? - to.. to a _BOY!_ ” 

He uttered the word as if something sticky with a bad taste had to be scraped off his tongue, shaking his head _no._

_Nope, that won’t do. At. All._

He’d recently started to bask in his now-found role as the urchin’s very own superhero - he’d NOT let a pimply, gauchy boy take her attention away from, from… important stuff that he had promised to teach her, no, he wouldn’t!. 

He’d made a promise, had a desire to fulfill, didn’t he?

Besides, the urchin was so sweet, innocent and naive, how could she probably see through all the bad intentions that the male species could come up with? 

A dozen different ugly hell-loop memories boiled to the surface of his mind in an instant, one nastier than the other. _Bloody hell_ , why did that happen all of a sudden, repeatedly, when his girls were concerned? Why did he worry so fast over them? Was that a nasty side effect of being vulnerable, perhaps? 

All that horrible stuff was usually well hidden in a deep dark corner of his heart, stashed away for divine safekeeping. His vulnerability thing seemed to expand the more into unknown territory the more he cared about his Decker women.

He tugged at the sleeves of his leather jacket determinedly as if arranging cufflinks. 

“Come on, Detective, hurry up, will you? Who knows what the miscreant is up to with our daughter,” he huffed, “we need to keep her safe, don’t we?” 

Lucifer radiated indignance, slash worry, to boot. 

He did not wait for Chloe to respond, instead he strode forward with his long legs so that she had to jog along to keep his pace. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn’t see the broad smile spread across his detective’s face, caressing the back of her adorable divine-but-clueless boyfriend. She couldn’t help its spread, from the moment on where he’d uttered “ _our daughter”._

Her Devil was, maybe, perhaps, a _tiny_ bit jealous to share his top-hat spot in her daughter’s live with somebody else.

Which he would never, ever admit. 

Never.

Chloe blue eyes sparkled as she hurried after him. 

To prevent the worst.

Eventually.

When she was lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a master" of Emoji language between Lucifer - and his twin brother Michael. The story "The Price of Freewill" by @Azure_Iolite is just so damn good, you should really give it a try! But beware, it's addicitive.
> 
> Next chapter will be put up earlier - Mid-next week, likely.


	4. Angel in Disguise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trixie meets her own personal Angel boy. (POV Trixie)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: This is teen Trixie (a little bit more than the age of Scarlett Esteverez), right? She's got her own mind. And her interests expand far beyond chocolate cake and hugging Lucifer's legs, ok? (If you look for that kind of story: shoo!)

Turquoise-blue ocean and white spray on dark rocks kissed a brilliantly blue sky, surrounded by green shrubs, trees and rocky cliffs. 

Magnificent! 

Trixie dropped their beach bag at her feet and peered around at the picnic area. There were not many people there, yet. It was still more or less early for a sunday summer day. 

Devil airlines had its perks, on top of ABT! 

And it nicely lowered her CO 2 footprint, not going by car. She’d started to use that calculator to get an overview of her own, lately. Well, she couldn’t preach change, attending the Fridays4Future demos with her friends, and then do nothing herself, can’t she? 

She’d even used that argument on Lucifer, to make him take her somewhere by Angel airlines instead of car more often. Funnily, it had worked. 

Which told her more than any argument that their planet  _ was  _ in danger.

But she rather wouldn’t think about all of this today. Today was their long-awaited excursion, their adventure. 

Trixie sighed in delight as she took in the most beautiful scenic view she’d ever seen in her life, inhaling the air that was perfumed with blue-ocean aroma, spiked with gushes of warm, herb-and-pine scents.

She could feel how her lips started to smile on their own.  _ Oh, wow, look at that...!  _

She dropped their bag and got quickly rid of her shirt and trousers, enjoying the sun on her skin. 

She looked down and enjoyed the novel view on herself - she wore the most beautiful, most _ grown-up _ black bikini she’d  _ ever  _ owned, the one she’d wanted to have for ages (well, three entire months. That WAS ages when you’re nearly fourteen!). The one her mom had finally given in to. After she herself, Lucifer and even Maze had argued for it. 

It really was the latest fashion, black with small padded cups (who cares if it was just size AA) with crossed bands holding it in place in a very sportive way. She felt very…  _ womanly _ . 

She pulled out the picnic blanket, spread it out and lounged on it. Point Lobos natural reserve was really a sight for sore eyes. She took out her phone and started snapping pictures, firing off photos plus texts to her friends, Mum and Lucifer in a stakkato whirlwind. 

She’d made a WhatsApp group labeled “Satanic family” for the three of them, while the group “Hell spawns” encompassed Maze and Lucifer but excluded her mum. She didn’t need to know everything, did she, now?

The landscape was as beautiful as Lucifer had told them. He’d even started to wax lyrical about Whaler’s cove. 

_ Lucifer _ , of all… Devils. 

Gushing about something  _ other  _ than her  _ mum! _ It was hilarious. 

Which had piqued her curiosity. 

Which had, ultimately, led to her choosing the “marine life” topic in her biology class as her summer-holiday school assignment. 

Which had required to make sure they’d do a joint excursion to Lobos Point national reserve as a family.

And now here she was. 

In her brand-new bikini. 

Spread out in the sun. 

Waiting for her first diving lessons with Lucifer. 

_ Life was so good! _

It was then, when she extracted her sunglasses from the strand bag, that she first noticed him. 

As in, HIM, capital letters. __

The most stunning, no, the most  _ breathtaking  _ boy she’d ever seen. Woa!

Large, long-lashed dark eyes, full lips, high cheekbones and dark, long hair down to his shoulders. A profile like a spanish nobleman of the old ages. A swimmer’s statue, elegant, purposeful movements like Maze’s. 

And as a cream topping, adorable dimples when he smiled.

Which he did, right now. Oh my Dad, he even  _ looked  _ at her, from about 30 feet away, lounging gracefully on his own picnic blanket. 

SMILING!! AT HER!

She coughed and looked away - she couldn't, for whatever reason, bear to meet his gaze. She took out her hair tie and shook her hair towards her face to cover her eyes, hiding behind it, faking disinterest. 

_ Why on earth am I doing that? That’s dumb. I should talk to him instead, say something cool that makes him laugh. But… my brain, it’s totally empty. I- I hate you, brain!  _

She wanted nothing more than to stare at him, check him out, but… what if he thought she was interested?

_ So. Damn. Embarrassing. _

Oh wait! She noticed her dark sunglasses in her hand - she’d totally forgotten about them - and put them on her nose. Thank Lucifer’s Dad they were reflective. 

Now, there. She looked straight towards the sea, then darted her eyes sideways under the sun glasses to her left, spying on Angel boy.

Yep. He was still looking her way. 

Sh… Grinning as if he knew  _ exactly  _ what she was doing. 

Dang! 

He shouldn’t think, even for one minute, that she was ogling him, now, should he? Even if she was.

Distraction was in order. She needed to be busy. 

Ah! Her new phone, bless Lucifer’s backup against her mum for finally having it. 

She had to call mum and text her and Lucifer pictures to help them find her, anyway. And to keep Zoé, her best friend, in the loop of everything. She’d promised - and just the flight with Lucifer here was SO worth reporting! And Zoé, thank Dad, she knew everything - she didn’t have to pretend with her, which was just so…  _ relaxing  _ regarding the whole Devil thing.

And her other classmates, in particular Dawn Fairbanks. The arrogant blonde git with her rich famous actor daddy. Who bragged about their trips around LA all the time. A lot. 

Surely this was the better location. She did a panorama and fired it off into their girls’ of class 9b account. 

And most of all, she needed to text Zoé about the cute, cute angel boy _.  _ She promised her best friend via text to snap a pic of him later, when he wasn’t looking and smiled at the string of emojis her friend fired back to convey her backup to Trixie.

She decided she’d also let Lucifer know what she’d discovered here. She eventually needed to ask him if the boy might be a younger brother of his in disguise, he simply looked Heaven-sent. He couldn't be real, he just  _ couldn’t. _

A bead of sweat run down her forehead. The sun was already fierce. 

Trixie rummaged her bag for sunscreen and their parasol to put together. She unfolded it, checked the sun’s shade direction, calculating where the shade might be in an hour or so, then she tried to push the sharp end into the stony ground. 

After a few hacks it stood upright. She sat down and started to apply sunscreen when a heavy gust of wind upended the parasol and send it flying. 

She cursed under her breath, sprang to her feet and chased after it. 

He was faster. 

Angel boy.

He’d gotten up like a cat, intercepting the tumbling item halfway between their picnic locations. Catching it with a kind of lazy elegance. 

She noticed herself watching him and snapped her mouth shut. 

Just in time. 

He came towards her, holding the infuriating parasol. “I believe you’ve lost something?” His dimples smiled at her, friendly, with a slightly ironic undertone. 

The kind that one uses to guard oneself.

“Yes, thanks.” She hated that she sounded so breathless. “You were quite fast”. 

_ Congrats, Trix, how original. _

“May I help you with anchoring it properly? It’s- it’s not easy, in this kind of stony ground” he added hastily, obviously fearing that his first remark may be perceived as offensive. 

Trixie nodded vigorously ( _ like an idiot _ , she hard Lucifer’s voice tease her). “Yes. Yes, please. That’ll be nice.” She felt how another gush of wind pulled her open hair across her face. She slid it behind her ear. 

He held the parasol against the wind so that the wind didn’t catch her hair any more. His smile broadened. 

She suddenly remembered that smiling back was an option, and as soon as she did, her face lit up in typical radiant Trixie fashion. “That’s nice, too, thank you,” she added, pointing with her chin towards the expertly handled parasol. 

She was rewarded with a beautiful, dimple-heavy smile. Unrestrained. And thus even more beautiful.

“Any time. Miss….?”

_ So. Cute. He’s. So. Cute. _

“Beatrice. Beatrice Decker. My- my friends call me Trixie,” she supplied. “We’re from Los Angeles. And you…?” 

“I’m Caleb. Caleb Mayfire. Staying with my relatives from the coast guard over the weekend, aunts, Tsa’a, ah, uncles and my metx, at Odello ranch. Not so far from here. Usually, we live in Monterey.” 

“Met-sch? You mean... your mum?” They walked over to her picnic place. The wind had already upended her blanket. Caleb stooped down and straightened it, putting stones on the edges to keep it down. 

“S- sorry - my grandfather. In- in our language, it’s metx.” He smiled cautiously at her, as if he’d not intended to give  _ that  _ particular piece of information away. 

Trixie’s eyes widened. 

“So… so.. does it mean you’re Ohlone? Costanoan? That’s absolutely  _ awesome _ !” she enthused with gusto.

She was close to blurting out all that she’d learned from Lucifer about the people who once inhabited these coastlines in her excitement. Long before Europeans brought death and doom to the first nations inhabiting the american continent.

“You- you really think so…?” Caleb sounded absolutely baffled by her reaction and at the same time, deeply relieved. 

His dimples confirmed his feelings by re-emerging, like shy deer after being scared away by a loud sound. Her heart melted.

“Yes, absolutely. My ancestry  _ totally  _ sucks. So, so boring. I tried to do a bit of research a year ago when we had to, for a school project in history. First I was thrilled by the task,” she chuckled, “Thought I’d discover something like, I dunno, having a knight or something in my ancestry.” She rolled her eyes at herself. “But soon I gave up on it because there was nothing special,” Trixie supplied. “There’s just a bit of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, on top of a lot of boring WASP heritage.” She scrunched her nose to transport that she wasn’t too fond of all of this boredom.

He bend down to fix the parasol, ruffling his hair back, then grinning up at her. “Maybe there was a bit of a Mayan Princess in your Mexican ancestry...?” he teased, “...what do you know?” 

He had something comforting, something good-natured about him that she immediately felt at home with. Trixie had the distinct impression that he had smaller siblings or cousins he cared for - something told her that he probably had a large family. 

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her behalf. Just because  _ she  _ didn’t have a large family and longed for one…. thus, meeting people who had plenty of family was super-interesting for her, to start with. 

Although, thinking about it, her wonderful biodiverse patchwork family had really grown lately. She  _ loved  _ playing with Charlie! Especially when he ambushed her from about 6 to 9 feet height, flying above her head and dropping water bombs. Sometimes he short at her like a cannonball from a hiding spot like in a tree, while she tried to hit him with water bombs as well. Last time she’d even managed to pluck him out of the air and tickle him until they both were breathless, ha,  _ victory! _

Meanwhile Angel boy was digging a hole where she had just tried to push the parasol’s pole into the ground, looking up to her again in between as he spoke, feeling more comfortable now that she seemed accepting, even thrilled. “Well, I’m not just pure Ohlone-Esselen - I’ve got a weird mixing of sorts, a bit of everything.” 

Trixie just stopped herself from blurting out “You look like an Angel” which was -  _ good _ . Probably. 

He made a face at her to convey that it didn’t, shouldn’t matter for who he was, but that he wanted to be completely honest from the start. 

She liked it.

Then he began to collect the stones that he removed earlier and packed them around the parasol’s pole. “There, it’ll probably hold better now with a little wind.”

“Thank you, Caleb...” His name felt good on her tongue. Saying it aloud accelerated her heartbeat and made her stomach flutter.

She flopped down on her picnic blanket and patted the place next to her. Hesitantly, he sat down. Again with those graceful cat-like movements she started to anticipate… to… love?

_ What’s happening? _

She sat up and hugged her knees, looking at him. “You know, it’s awesome to think that, if we’d go back in time, a thousand years even, that we could might meet your great-great-great- _ whatever _ grandmother at these very shores…. it’s… I dunno how to describe it. But it’s- it feels... so  _ rooted _ .”

They smiled at each other, two pairs of dimples dancing.  _ He’s so cute _ , her heart sang.  _ And he’s here, with me! _

He pondered her words and nodded slowly. “You know, I’m glad that you think so - you describe perfectly how I feel,” he supplied earnestly. “You’re the first person to actually like this…  _ side  _ of me.” Caleb smiled again at her. 

He sounded as if she’d handed him an unexpected present that he didn’t dare to open just yet. 

“My mum’s boyfriend, he… just knows a lot. He even speaks the Ohlone-Esselen languages. Or I think he does. He- he’s  _ totally  _ gifted with languages, unbelievingly. He’s the one who told us about the beauty of this place. And then I pestered them until they agreed to have our holiday excursion to Point Lobos National Reserve.” 

He smiled in response. “I’m glad you succeeded.”

_ Did- did he really mean that?  _

She looked around her. “They’re coming here, too, they’re just late because they’re bringing more luggage.” Trixie had by now mastered the art of telling the truth about her Step-Devil without all the crazy celestial stuff in it. “I went ahead to get us a nice place,” she gestured around them. 

Caleb suddenly looked alarmed. “I’m better going to move back to my stuff then,” he suggested hesitantly. “I’d like to stay, but… I mean, they don’t know me...” his voice trailed off, looking around cautiously. 

Trixie considered the situation. She didn’t want him to go, but she knew that Lucifer could get a tad overprotective.

He’d spoiled her first kind-of-date-not-really-a-date, the one where she went to have ice cream with Nathaniel, a nice boy from her class. She didn’t fancy him, he was just a nice lad and easy to talk to. And why couldn’t a boy and a girl just be friends, for…  _ Dad’s sake? _ Her date had also been a bit of a protest against the “get yourself a boyfriend” pressure that some girls in her class exerted. If that made any sense.

But Lucifer had gone crazy, he’d acted as if the poor boy must necessarily plan some evil ambush for her. She’d spotted her Step-Devil repeatedly (*sigh*) during their ‘date-not-a-date’, hovering around - on a nearby rooftop, then in a tree, and finally even on a  _ street lamp _ \- sitting there, dangling his long legs (the nerve of him!) and observing her like an overgrown bird of prey. 

Well, of course it was just her who’d noticed the density anomaly that signified his presence, since her self-proclaimed guardian devil had had at least the sanity to remain  _ cloaked _ . 

But knowing he was there all the time, listening in on every word? 

So NOT cool. 

Not. At. All. 

Did he think that she’d not notice? How old did he think she was, five? She wasn’t  _ that  _ stupid, thank you very much!

She’d complained about her intrusive-adhesive guardian Devil to her mum, first thing she did when she was back home. In the end, Lucifer got an earful from her (which usually worked best) on respecting personal boundaries, especially those of a teen, on how she wasn’t a little kid anymore, yadda yadda. 

Trixie listened in on it and filed every bit of her mum’s tirade away for later use. 

She planned on reminding her about  _ that  _ particular speech of hers whenever she needed her to loosen up - and let’s be honest, she’d be a fool  _ not  _ to use that leverage, would she?

And she was SO going to sign her step-devil up for a new Trixie-led tutorial on teen-handling, after spawn-handling was going better and better every day, now.

She looked at Caleb and sighed inwardly. 

_ Ok then, better safe than sorry. No Devil drama. _

“Maybe it’s best if we don’t let them know immediately that we already know each other. Lucifer can be a bit… let’s say overprotective. He means well, but he can be  _ scary  _ if you don’t know that he’s a big softie inside.” 

_ Speaking of red glowing devil eyes and a booming commander voice that shook the soil and equalled a small earthquake.  _

“But he’s a piece of cake if you get to know him eventually. So, maybe…. see you later at the beach? Or, maybe, in the water?” 

Caleb smiled at her, seemingly relieved, and got up although there was a question in his eyes at the name “Lucifer”. Which was - o.k., everybody had that look after they’d heard his name for the first time. And who could blame them. 

“Definitely later in the water. I’m going to dive a bit out there. I brought my gear.” He gestured at his spot. When she craned her neck he added, “No aqualungs, though, just apnoe. I do have the CMAS two-star for using aqualungs, but I love to go slow and silent underwater. There’s so much more that you can see of all the marine life. If you’re one of them, so to speak, not a noisy diver making bubbles all the time.” 

Trixie beamed up at him. “Apnoe, really? That’s awesome! Lucifer has promised to give me my first snorkeling lessons today. He also talked about apnoe diving…”

“Your mom’s BF, he sounds like a nice guy, then. Besides, Lucifer… the name is a legend of my people, but not.... in the  _ church  _ way, you know? There is the legend of the man of light who brought peace, then turned into the morning star… is that really his name?” 

“Uh-uh, yes, it is - his- his full name is Lucifer Morningstar, actually.”

Caleb’s eyes went round with curiosity. It was clear that he wanted to ask away. 

They _both_ wanted to talk on and on and on \- he was so _easy_ to talk to, it all felt so _natural_. 

She sighed.

When they parted with a “see you later” versus “see you underwater” plus a dance of two sets of joyous dimples, she felt as elated as if she’d drunk two cans of red bull. 

And at the same time she felt bereft. As if the air had suddenly gone colder. 

From the way he looked back two times before he settled down at his blanket, she guessed he just might feel the same way. 

She hoped he did, she  _ really  _ hoped. 

And he had roots to the people who had once lived here, long ago… who were still there, in people like Him (she couldn’t stop thinking of him in capital letters.)

She laid back on her blanket and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. 

_ Life was so good, and had just become ever so much more exciting! _

She remembered the stories Lucifer had told them….

**********************

In one of their beloved ‘Devil story night-outs’ at gran’s beach house, the ones she and Zoé loved so much, Lucifer told stories - of the past, of his previous encounters with known and unknown historical figures, of former ages and earth landscapes. 

They sometimes knew some of the figures in his stories from their textbooks, “Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t say “no” to a good meal or bed mate when he became King of Westphalen (he pronounced the strange German names perfectly) until it finally came and bit him in the arse,” Lucifer had chuckled. “He’d stuffed himself on one of all of this banquets that he so loved, until he got food poisoning - I never thought that a human could spill THIS amount of intestine content everywhere! you should have seen his servants run around, trying to help and at the same time, duck the fountains.” 

And the Devil had snickered and giggled like a teen, as if he’d just witnessed it.

At other times, his tales opened up a window into the past and into the lives and hearts of faceless humans that were long gone. 

Mostly, gone to a place where he’d never see them again. 

And usually, he was - in a silent, suffering, heartbreaking way -  _ glad  _ that they didn’t, because it meant that they had escaped  _ his  _ domain. 

Sometimes, he would let them see behind his mask, being powerless against the dripping waters of time, flowing on and on, let them grasp the melancholy and sadness of all the human lives he’d encountered, fading away. The only constant in his eons-long existence. Reflected in his tales. 

Sadness not due to him, but due to  _ them  _ being mortals. 

It was just rubbed in their faces, Trixie thought, again and again, by the immortal, skilled storyteller that made them hold their breath. An aspect of his personality that he only allowed to surface and shine when he he was around them - people he trusted. He’d begun to open up doors that he must have kept sealed for eons. It was good but so heartbreaking.

But nevertheless, they all loved it when Lucifer got into his special story-teller mood when they sat around a fire at the beach, with his stars shining bright above them, with the softly crashing waves playing their eternity mood song for them on repeat.

Trixie recalled his very special story, of the land that was now Monterey country, of the people who were now called Costanoan (by the Spanish invaders, meaning coast dwellers) or in their language, Ohlone-Esselen. 

He’d been enthralled by a woman (of course he was) of the Ohlone Nation. The Tanoch (he’d told them it meant “grown up woman”) had been struggling with the loss of her first beloved husband to a hunting accident, while being still childless, which was a problem in their culture at the time, when the Devil had popped topside. He’d made it his personal mission to chase away the darkness, the clouds of sadness surrounding her. 

Listening to his tales of getting her to finally find a way out of her drowning, grey sea of sadness, of their joint shenanigans, of how they both had fooled her grumpy tsa’a and the elders repeatedly, had made her and Zoé laugh out loud under the starry sky. 

Lucifer always used his entire body and his large, lively hands to underline his stories. He was so good with imitating voices and sounds, or the facial expressions that someone had made - you always got the feeling of having  _ all these characters sit there with them around the fire _ , laughing and teasing. 

In a way, he resurrected them, gave them voice and life, even flight.

The fire they shared on the beach was burning low when Lucifer finally came to the part where he’d nudged Asatsa-iwa towards someone else, towards a good man who’d admired her from afar but was to shy to approach. Finally, playing the matchmaker, because he’d sensed that his days with them were numbered, that Amenadiel was hot on his heels to drag him back to Hell. 

Both girls had struggled with holding back tears. In their view, Lucifer was their hero in a sad romantic story arc. 

But then, Trixie also recalled her mother’s expression. 

She’d looked at Lucifer with large, green eyes, lower lip trembling, as if she was deeply sad, completely shaken and immensely  _ glad  _ at the same time. 

Trixie thought she understood. 

Sad for him for having to leave, for him to be forced back to Hell. 

To where love, music, laughter and beauty were completely absent. 

Shaken and overwhelmed by the recurring  _ otherworldliness  _ of Lucifer - it  _ always gets you  _ when you realized how old he was, what he’d seen of humanity, in his immense long span of existence. 

And glad because he was now here, with them, with her - Chloe. 

Trixie remembered how her mum had snuggled into his side, how she’d taken his face in her hands and tenderly kissed his eyelids and his forehead. How he’d materialized just one of his wings to drape it around her shoulders and pull her closer to him, kissing the top of her hair while his wing shoulder’s feathers caressed her hair and shoved it behind her ear. 

_ It’s always so  _ cute  _ when he does that. _

It was this moment, when both got lost in each other’s eyes, where she and Zoé had nudged each other, an understanding passing between them. Time to leave the lovebirds and give them the space they needed.

And so they did.

If there was  _ one  _ thing Trixie knew for sure, it was that she’d accept nothing less than such a love in her life. 

A love like the one Lucifer and her mum shared. 

She saw their bond grow every day (and probably every night….  _ ewwww… _ . she won’t let her thoughts go  _ there! _ ). 

Without her knowing, watching them, sensing their deep connection, their ocean-deep love shaped, carved, modeled the standard for her. 

_ This, this was what she wanted. _

Her very own Angel. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again @ManuHerz79 for all the wonderful encouraging beta-ing! It's so good to have you on board <3  
> (Since we are both non-native speakers, all language mistakes are purely mine, and mine alone. If someone would volunteer to proof-read I'd be very happy...


	5. Sticky sunscreen and teen-y embarrassment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil and his Detective finally arrive at the beach and they are SO embarassing. Also, mother-daughter bonding to fend off devil admirers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YESSSS, we got the S5a trailer, and how awesome is it to have double Tom Ellis?? I know AO3 is exploding right now with awesome ff, all towards "he who should not be named for spoilery reasons" and I love it!   
> However, this is just plain old Deckerstar, viewed with Trixie's eyes. If you're in need for some happiness and banter - enjoy.

Lying on her back in the sun, Trixie heard them even before she could see saw them - Lucifer’s long, energetic strides while her mum was jogging along to keep the pace. 

_Uh-oh._

She’d been right to send Caleb away. Maybe it had been a mistake to text her step-devil?

But with HIM always making these stupid innuendos and jokes? Somehow, she’d wanted to… what exactly? 

Maybe…. retaliate? Rub it into his thick skull that she wasn’t a little girl anymore? 

Well, she mused that she’d been on her best behavoíour. By NOT using the “yummy food” emoji 😋 after “treat”, right?

Then her mum, a little breathless: “Slow down, Lucifer, see? There she is, perfectly fine! As I said _all along the way!_ ” 

Her mum’s voice sounded slightly irked and amused at the same time. 

She sat up and opened her eyes wide - artlessness personified. She removed her sunglasses and looked up at them, employing big puppy eyes. 

“Lucifer? Mum? Fiiiiinally.” She was proud of the slightly boring undertone in her voice. 

“It took you _ages_ . Why’s that?” She smirked at them while Lucifer sat down their gear and refreshment box. “Is it that you … _distracted..._ each other - _again?_ ” 

The emphasis and the _suffering_ she put on the word made it plain clear that she knew _exactly_ what they’d been up to. 

Besides, attacking was the BEST defense - she’d learned it from the best. 

Maze. 

“Monkey, that’s… that’s not why we… erm, we just….” her mother stuttered. 

So foreseeably. Really. How old did mum think she was? Eight?

Lucifer, however, was completely unfazed. He cocked an eyebrow at her, amused with her smart tactics. 

“Well played, urchin”, he grinned. “You know very well that your mother is my personal undoing, unfailingly, so I refuse to be impressed by your observation.” He turned his head to shine a loving smile at Chloe, who handed Trixie her back pack and smiled back at him, cheeks slightly flushed. 

“Also, she’s the sweetest treat _I_ can find.” He grinned at her devilishly, cocking his head to one side like a curious eagle. 

“Now. Spill. Where’s _yours_?”

_Shit. So much for distraction._

She glared at her step Devil who’d shimmied out of his leather jacket, shirt and trousers, with his typical casual grace. Predictably, several heads at the beach turned while mouths started to water while taking his angelic appearance in. 

(She was so used to _that_ by now, she really was. It could be amusing but mostly, it was annoying. 

Lucifer lounged down on the picnic blanket besides her, blocking her view. 

Well. On _Him_. Caleb. Her Angel boy.

She scowled at the Devil. “Don’t you _dare_ make a scene. Or go and scare him, Lucifer!” 

His warm brown eyes twinkled with mischief, lips curled mockingly. He eyed her, head cocked to one side, as if to make sense of a particularly strange human behaviour. One eyebrow trailed higher as if to ask _“why shouldn’t I?”_ He just kept grinning.

“ _Promise_ me you won’t, Lucifer,” she pressed. 

He considered his reply, staring at her without blinking. It was always a bit annoying when he did that. 

She stressed her point. “ _Please_ , Lucifer. Please?” she let her eyes grow large and sad.

That did the trick. He sighed deeply. 

“Very well. _Fine_ , Beatrice. As long as the boy behaves, I promise I won’t harm him, neither physically or mentally. Lightbringer’s honours.” He held up his hand as if swearing an oath. “That enough for you, urchin?” 

“As long as you let ME define “behave”, Satan!” she demanded. “ _Deal?_ ” 

The Devil in question pouted a bit, because she had him there and they both knew it. “Right, fine. Have it your way, then. _Deal_ , urchin.” 

Lucifer sighed theatrically and they shook hands on it. Trixie exhaled in relief, noticing that she’d held her breath. 

_Catastrophe averted, Devil tamed._

She looked into his warm brown eyes that still x-rayed her, sparkling with curiosity. His head was still slightly inclined like that of a curious bird of prey. 

_Oh well. Fine._ A gesture of trust was in order.

“He- he’s left of us, on that fire-coloured blanket. But- but don’t you DARE look at him directly or I’ll DIE!” she groaned, trying to nip insensitive devil behaviour in the bud. 

_Of course_ he turned his head immediately towards Caleb’s direction, the insufferable improper-behaviour devil that he was. No, no, _no!_

Ha! Sorry not sorry: His view was blocked.

Her mum’s face appeared at Lucifer’s left side, grinning at her over the devil’s shoulder.

_Yes! Mum to the rescue!_

She did an inward fist pump.

“ _Deteeeective!_ You’re blocking my view on what might well be a threat to our…,” he whined. 

_So foreseeable, really._

Trixie rolled her eyes at him. Unfortunately, he didn’t see it.

“It’s for a very good, educational cause, Lucifer” her mum cut across him, stern detective decker look firmly in place.Then she lifted her chin above his shoulder and winked at her. Trixie grinned back.

“Besides,” she held up a bottle of sunscreen, grinning at her daughter, then pushing him down with her eyes. “You’re going to get sunscreen protection anointment, _now_.”

“Oh, am I now, love? As much as I enjoy your hands on me, darling, I’ll have you know that the Devil does not need mundane things such as sunscreen. I just heal, as quick as my skin might catch a little bit of tanning. Which suits me, anyway, don’t you think?” 

Trixie noticed how her mum rolled her eyes and squeezed cream into her palm determinedly.

“I can’t risk you getting a sunburn, thanks to being super-sensitive around me, can I? You’d wail the next three days AND nights nonstop about how it’s _so bloody inconvenient_.” 

Her Mum’s imitation of his accent was still awful, but that never stopped her doing it. 

“I don’t wail, Detective! I just loathe the sticky, smelly stuff. I assure you, the devil doesn’t need….”

Trixie had enough and got up, adjusting her sunglasses and grabbing her towel and swimming gear.

Not _one_ second too late, because she heard a loud _slap_ and knew exactly whose hand had hit whose butt.

“Shut up and roll over, Lucifer!”

“Oooh, _bossy!_ Lucifer _likes…_ . “ Lucifer made a show of lazing into a “full-on body display” position on his back, stretching like a giant cat (a very _sensual_ cat. Even she understood that in new ways, lately… and even more now where she’d seen another elegant eye candy). The Devil presented his toned chest and chiseled abs while rolling obediently over for her mum. 

For the entire beach to see, _urgh_. Trixie knew he was putting on a show to annoy her mum. Judging by her glare at him, he’d done managed it, again. 

He’s got _quite_ the success rate, she’d give him that. 

“What should I even _do_ with you, Satan?” Her mum sighed, exasperated. 

“Oh, I know _quite_ of a few nice things you could actually do to me, love... “ he purred in reply, wiggling even more into his “I’m all yours, enjoy me” posture.

“Lucifer, _behave_ ,” she heard her mother scold. 

Trixie shook her head. Her eyes finally managed to dart towards Caleb’s place, now that both of the sweet, embarrassing love dorks were successfully distracted from her. 

_Oh!_ Her heart sank - Caleb’s place was empty. 

There was still his blanket and his stuff, marking his place, but he wasn’t there. She felt relieved and bereft at the same time: Thank DAD he hadn’t been there to witness, urg... _them_.

Maybe he’d gone for a dive? She could go and check out the ocean. She clutched her snorkeling mask and her gear looking over the ocean in a distance.

Then she looked down at her lazing step-devil and her mum who systematically rubbed sunscreen into Lucifer’s skin, massaging his chest lovingly while he continued to make low-voice humming and purring sounds in the back of his throat. 

Trixie wasn’t so sure that he was really aware of it - he also did it when they groomed his wings, of their overgrown LuciCat.

She noted that her mum had drawn a towel across Lucifer’s lap while he grinned like the cat that ate the canary, sighing and demanding that he’d roll onto his stomach _now_. 

_Eww, so gross!_ Trixie felt her cheeks redden. _Time to leave._

“You two are really, really embarrassing, both of you! You know that, do you?” she sighed in exasperation. 

“That’s part of the fun,” Lucifer confirmed, voice muffled, after rolling over and presenting his back and rear end to Chloe. He smirked with closed eyes, while her mum groaned in feigned desperation. 

“Mum, Lucifer? I’m going to sit _over there_ and look at the ocean or take a swim until you two learn to behave like _adults_ ,” Trixie announced, full to the brim with the annoyance of a young teen at the _impossibly immature_ behaviour of their parents. 

She took her stuff with her just in case she spotted Caleb. Suddenly an idea hit her. 

_Maybe_ HE _could give her her first diving lessons_ …?

Just the mere thought made her heart flutter. 

“Fine, monkey, but please tell us if you want to go for a swim, will you?” 

“Mom! It’s almost as if someone has been ironing out the waves, look at how impossibly flat and smooth the surface of the water is. No wind. Just baby waves. And I was the best of my class at school with swimming this year, remember? Besides,” she focused on Lucifer, “if I _am_ in trouble, I can always pray to Lucifer and he’ll come and rescue me. Right, Old Scratch? You would?” 

A lazy brown eye opened and sparkled up at her in amusement. “Right you are, spawn,” he confirms, “Guardian Devil at your beck and call. Always. I’d be there in a heartbeat.” His eye closed lazily. 

He wiggled his rear end to encourage Chloe to continue her ministrations.

_Ewww._

“See, mum? See? Besides, I’m not a child anymore, right?” Trixie frowned, annoyed.

“Right. No, you aren’t,” her mum sighed, then chuckled soothingly, hands held up (ignoring the tempting movements of Lucifer’s backside below her) “and that’s part of the problem. For me, monkey, not for you.” 

Her mother gave her a warm, loving smile and Trixie felt her irked-ness melt away. She got that so easily, lately - a kind of aggressiveness or sadness she hadn’t had to deal with a year ago. It was bothersome, sometimes. At other times, it felt good to vent, to let loose...

She looked around, then gestured to her mum to come closer, leaning towards her across Lucifer’s body. 

Trixie grinned and report-whispered. 

“I’ve counted seven or eight females and three males. Three of the women go into the “be prepared - they’re desperate” category, right? The type who might try to make a move on our Devil.” 

She gestured towards Lucifer’s back below them. “I#m right here, you know”, came a muffled voice from below.

They ignored him, blue eyes smiling into brown ones.

“Gotcha, thanks, monkey.” Their eyes and smiles merged, both ‘Team Deckerstar’ in the blink of an eye. 

“Enjoy the water and…well, the view... you know, _everything_.” Chloe smiled warmly up at her. 

“Thanks, mum, I definitely will.” Trixie beamed back. 

_Good to know that mum had her back on this_. 

Whatever this was, or would become, if ever. She strode towards the unknown, towards the shoreline.

She looked around as she went, shaking her head.

It was funny if it weren’t so annoying - all the glassy-eyed admirers that Lucifer’s charms and, let’s be honest, his lean masculinity attracted, unfailingly. 

She was now almost fourteen and not a little girl anymore, she had eyes, although just… _hands-off-my-D-dad_ eyes, _hands-off-because-he’s-my-mum’s-happiness_ eyes when it came to Lucifer. 

Defending them had become some kind of habit, lately. _Until you got hit by tons of embarrassment with them, that is._

As Trixie walked towards the ocean she did a quick re-count. Yep. She got the numbers right. 

Now that more and more people were filling picnic area, families, singles and groups of teens and young adults, the number of people ogling Lucifer in breathless fascination had grown steadily. 

Trixie stared them down possessively. She had a divine love couple to defend, thank you very much. _Them - Miracle and Devil-Angel. Her weird, wonderful inter-species family._ Interracial? That was just yesterday! 

She caught a few in the act of staring who blushed and looked away quickly. Others continued to drool openly, with a kind of “Christmas and easter fell together” fascination at the magnetic Devil.

Who was posing for his detective (and her alone) as an overgrown kitty. 

A brief glance back told her that Lucifer had started to flex his back like a cat (but without the tail) under her mum’s ministrations. He often did that when you stroked him where his wings met his shoulder blades in _just_ the right way. 

It was adorable, she had to admit that.

But wait. What was her mum doing? Trixie stilled and looked back, observing them. 

Did she imagine it, or did mum write something on Lucifer’s back, with her finger?

The bickering behind her about how the (purring, flexing) devil SO doesn’t need sticky sunscreen faded away as she walked on. 

_Free at last!_

She huffed out a sigh of relief. 

The sounds of the waves grew louder, the clear ocean smell and a fresh breeze embraced her.

THERE he was! 

She spotted Caleb’s head in the water immediately, about 300-350 yards out there in the ocean, in the smooth deep blue. He was doing the crawl, going quite fast with his lean but muscular arms and long flippers - much faster than she’d be able to. 

She admired his moves, squinting her eyes to focus see sharper. 

There was a snorkel sticking up, signal green. He was obviously wearing a mask. Then he stilled as if contemplating or waiting for something, peering downwards repeatedly.

Suddenly, Caleb’s head and arms lunged forward and vanished while his legs and feet, with very large green-black flippers, pointed straight upwards. 

His body disappeared under the surface elegantly. 

And gone he was.

Trixie placed her towel on a cliff rock that allowed her a nice overview, her eyes never leaving the spot where she’s seen him dissappear, waiting for his reappearance. 

To feast her eyes on him. 

She didn’t know why, but his sight touched her heart.

She started to hum her favorite song, absentmindedly, forgetting the world around her. 

_Change is coming_ , whispered the wind. 

_Change is coming_ , sang the waves. 

_Change is coming_ , shrieked the gulls.

 _Everything changes now - bright and beautiful_ , whispered her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again @ManuHerz79 for going through this before - you are awesome... <3  
> I'd be happy to hear from readers - comments are writers' bread crumbs that keep us going...


	6. Hot Beach Life Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tooth rotting Deckerstar fluff at the beach. That's it, that's the summary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this brings a smile to your faces. Love, your old Dragon.

“She grows up so fast,” Chloe sighed, massaging sunscreen into Lucifer’s neck and onto the delicate curve of his ear shells. “Much too fast for my liking.” 

“Yet, you didn’t let me scan her ‘sweet treat’,” he whined, sounding like a 6-year old who was denied his favorite ice cream at the cash desk. 

“Because you would have flashed your eyes at him, admit it!” 

“I, well…. ah, yes, the thought has crossed my mind,” he confirmed her suspicions, truthful as always. “Just to warn him properly. In case he’s planning something nefarious, Detective.”

“I knew it! Look, Lucifer, it’s sweet that you’re so overprotective.” She smiled at him to let him know that they were still o.k. - he panicked so easily. “ Somehow, it really is. But it’s just too much for her to handle right now. I- let me explain…”

Chloe hesitated for a moment, “She- she needs to gain trust in her own judgement. That’s important when growing-up, you know? The fact that you have to learn to trust yourself, trust your own gut feelings. You know that I love my daughter with all my heart, do you?” 

He listened to her (thank Dad), brows drawn together, long-lashed dark eyes unblinking. He slowly nodded. “I am certain of that, Chloe. And- and, as strange as it may sound, I think... I do, too,” he said softly, exhaling deeply, as if the fact completely surprised him. She smiled at him, brushing a stray curl from his forehead and gave him a peck on his cheek, slowly and lovingly. “I  _ know  _ you do, my Angel.” He scoffed (foreseeably).

“Look.” She rubbed her eyes. “All I want to do is to protect Trixie, always. Put her in a padded room so she’ll never hurt herself. But- but she needs to learn to trust her own feelings when it comes to other people, to their character and what they mean to her. And how can she learn that, if I don’t allow her to make her own choices? I can’t put her in a cotton sphere to protect her against everything, as much as I want to.”

“But… but how can you be sure that he’s not… not a threat? That he’s... he’s even good for Beatrice? How do you  _ know _ ?” Lucifer pressed. The look on his face was so adorably confused, mixed with worry. For her daughter.  _ Their  _ daughter, he’d even said. Her heart gave a short joyful flutter.

_ Baby steps,  _ she thought.  _ Be patient, Chloe.  _ Trixie is probably the first human child her clueless Archangel was ever actively involved in caring for, the first he actively witnessed growing up. 

All the children he’d ever met before her where child souls wrongly trapped in  _ Hell _ . Souls he’d tried to free, in his own way. Sadness mixed with anger washed over her like a tsunami wave. Her thoughts flew heavenwards. 

_ How can you let that happen? To such a gentle soul, God? Your son even punished himself by self-actualizing that he’d not even be  _ worthy  _ of comforting child souls who took the wrong turn and ended up in Hell! Do you know how much you suck, as a Dad? Do you? _

“I can’t know that, Lucifer. All we can do is give her the right examples. Give her directions, before she makes her own decisions. And then we have to trust her instincts. Encourage her, so that she learns to trust herself.”

She smiled into his confused, worried eyes. Her beautiful Angel was so eager to learn, full of…  _ wanting  _ to learn. To understand. All about them, about humans. About  _ his  _ humans in particular.

Sometimes it was heartbreaking. Breathtaking. And sometimes it was a nightmare.

“Look, my Love.” She framed his face, grough stubble under her thumbs. She gently pecked his lips, smiled into his heartful eyes. “First, concerning the boy: Most likely, it’s nothing serious. She’s seen a handsome boy and swoons a bit. Girls can  _ do  _ that, occasionally, you know. It doesn’t mean that it sticks.” Chloe chuckled and leaned forward to peck his forehead. He closed his eyes and hummed. She smelled coconut sunscreen and  _ Lucifer _ . 

_ Mmmh, so nice…. _

“Second, even if there might be something more serious developing here, it takes them time and opportunity to grow closer. We don’t know anything yet. Where he lives and all. If there is a chance for them to grow closer. Hence, we have plenty of time. We’ll be around, offering an ear, be there for her, for  _ them _ . And get to know him on the way.” She smiled at him and he slowly nodded.

“Third, maybe even tomorrow, she fancies someone else and forgets entirely what she thought she saw in the boy. We’ll just have to wait and see. Don’t overthink it,  _ Mylord _ .” 

Her eyes twinkled into his at the moniker, and he lifted an eyebrow questioningly at her use of bedroom titles. She loved to surprise him and dwell in the look in his eyes when she did. He always lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Besides, before you get the wrong idea. Girls’ swooning, it’s not  _ exclusively  _ directed at you. You know that,  _ shainge-lyra _ , yeah?” she stroked his shoulder blades lovingly, feeling his wings hum to her beneath his skin. Today, their song had a lot of  _ green  _ and  _ gold  _ in it as it tingled up her arms, seeped into her soul.

“I’m the Devil, darling, it surely  _ is  _ all about me,” his voice was muffled because his head was suddenly buried into the crook of her neck, placing little nibbling kisses there. She shivered.

Then he looked up and grinned.

“Talking of swooning. Numbers rising?” He laid back down, folded his arms behind his neck and placed his head on them, grinning up at her. A second stray curl fell into his forehead. Her fingers itched to touch it.

“You heard that? Of  _ course  _ you did.” She was sure her eye roll was audible in her exasperated voice. “Let me see.” 

She sat up and peered carefully around behind her sunglasses. “Truth be told - yes, they are. Best guess is three or four more than when Trix left.” Amusement snook into Chloe’s voice. His ‘admiring, salivating, stalking fan club congregation’, Trixie had dubbed it, ASS-FCC for short. 

“Left of you, there’s an older lady who’s eating you alive with her eyes - they are glued to your abs at the moment. She doesn’t even notice I’m watching her, can you believe it? I bet she’s waiting for you to turn around to check out your, erm..  _ backside _ . Or for me to remove the towel, so she can check out your front assets.” 

She heard him snicker with glee while he peered up at her like an excited school boy, opening his mouth to comment. 

“And before you say something, yes, she’d get an eyeful just now if I remove the towel, I know it anyway, right? No need to brag.” 

More snickering, then he moved his head to the side to look up at her. He mimicked that his lips were sealed, throwing her the key. She grabbed it, smiling back at him.

_ Did she mention that she loved the bickering, with him? _

“And there’s a giggling group of 6 or 7 students ahead of us. They seem to discuss the peculiarities of your physique from head to toe, by the looks of it.” 

“ _ Are _ they, now?  _ Lovely! _ ” 

Lucifer rolled onto his side and propped his head onto one arm, then directed his most charming grin straight into the ogling group, waggling his eyebrows, poking his tongue behind his teeth.

Which promptly resulted in a lot of turning heads and a storm of giggles, as well as hands flying up to cover mouths, plus more giggling.

It had raised her insecurities at first, when he’d casually flirted back here or there, returning all the volleys thrown at him like the charming pro that he was. 

Only to make it plain clear, with simple but effective gestures, that he was  _ hers _ . Now, however, she was long past her early insecurities. 

Thanks to her Devil, and his surprising, sweet gestures that left no room for nagging doubts.

“Chloe?” His voice sounded honest, probing. Two dark, loving eyes peered up at her. They glistened with…  _ mischief _ ? 

“Are- are you done with me?” 

“Wha- What do you mean…?” She frowned. 

“Oh, I am referring to the sticky stuff you coated me with.” He snickered at misleading her. “Are you finally done with that olfactory affronting torture?” 

Lucifer rolled onto his left side and faced her, black eyes twinkling like beetles. 

_ Oh-uh. Something was brewing.  _

“Yes, I guess I am. Why?” 

_ “Good!”  _

With one swift, powerful movement he rose like a panther and swept her effortlessly up into his arms, holding her close to his chest, bridal style. She gave a tiny yelp of surprise (although she’d been kind of prepared, she’d _really_ been!), holding onto his neck. He whispered hotly in her ear, deep voice rumbling, lips nibbling at her throat and her earlobe. 

“Because now it’s my turn to have a go at you with that sticky substance, isn’t it? Do you  _ surrender _ , Detective? I suggest you do. For your own sake.” 

_ “Lucifer, let me down! _ They’re all watching…” She struggled a bit for show, knowing quite well that she could only move as much as he’d allowed her to. 

“Oh no, Love, that won’t do.” He started to slowly spin around his axis with her in his arms, hugging her close while his warmth seeped into her. 

“They wanted a show, so that’s what they’re going to get, right? A show of how much I  _ adore  _ you, right here and now.” His voice dropped into a low, sensual growl.

“Lucifer, let me…” 

“...I’m going to  _ massage  _ you with this anointment, every inch of your wonderful skin, until you make these sweet little dirty noises, for all to hear…”, he growled into her ear teasingly. 

His low-frequency, sensual voice, his hot breath tickling her earlobe combined with his sensory onslaught of hidden, singing wings and  _ Lucifer aroma  _ sent shivers down her spine. She felt an unexpected rush of heat pool in her lower belly and wetness between her thighs. 

_ Shit _ . She knew pretty well that he could  _ smell  _ all of her physical reactions. Shit, shit, shit.

_ How could he pull this out of her so fast? It wasn’t fair, it just wasn’t! And in broad daylight in the open, nonetheless? How embarrassing _ !

“Lucifer, put me down! Everyone is watching!  _ Please _ ,” she added for good measure, wiggling in his arms while trying to keep the stupid teen-ish embarrassment out of her voice. 

“Oh, I plan on that, rest assured.  _ After  _ you pay me ransom, that is. Mylady,  _ surrender. _ ” His gaze into her eyes intensified and she felt herself drowning in those beautiful, long-lashed dark eyes, in all of  _ him _ . 

Finally she gave in, sighing in anticipation, lifting her face to meet his lips with hers. “Very well, my King,” she sighed. He let out a feline, victorious purring sound that resounded deep in her core. Then he swept forward and captured her lips with his, kissing her into oblivion, while he kept slowly spinning on the spot with her in his arms. 

_ She got lost in feeling, smelling, sensing him, green and gold, music and…. _

Finally, the group of giggling students burst into catcalls, whistling and clapping. More onlookers joined.

Lucifer finally pulled back, his dark gaze covering her in a warm blanket of affection. 

Then his neck straightened, he looked around, beamed at their audience and gave courteous little bows and head nods left and right, still with her in his arms. 

While she fought the urge to bury her flaming cheeks in the crook of his neck like a damn teenager.  _ Did I mention “shit”...? _

To up his game, he finally let her slowly glide down his body, inch by mesmerizing inch, in such a sensual way that she felt that her cheeks grew even more red, when her feet finally touched the ground. 

“ _ Lucifer, _ ” she hissed again.

“What, my heart and sun?” He smiled into her eyes, faking innocence but wetting his lips slowly and deliberately before they curled into a truly sinful smirk. 

“ _ They _ got what they wanted, and  _ we  _ got what we wanted.” 

“What  _ YOU  _ wanted, Lucifer. I’m dying of embarrassment here….” 

His smile morphed into the more intimate, special sweetness that he reserved just for her. 

“No, we got what  _ we  _ wanted, Chloe, Love. You see, we’ve sent our message. Everyone here knows now that I am so NOT available to them. I’m yours, and yours alone. Or- or am I?” 

He looked a bit insecure. The gorgeous Angel of Desire. Looked like an insecure schoolboy. Because of her. 

How could this be even  _ real _ ?

Plus. He’d done it again.

She snuggled her forehead into the crook of his neck briefly, then she looked up and framed his stubbled jaw with her hands tenderly, letting her thumbs kiss his bottom lip with all the love that swallowed her like a tidal wave. 

“Yes, you are. You are, Lucifer. Mine. And mine alone. As long as we have time together, you are mine…. I’ll never let you go,” she whispered. 

They both knew all too well that their time together was limited. That every moment counted.

Lucifer cleared his throat and she felt him shiver. He chuckled to lighten the mood. “By the way, darling, my favorite new colour is your cheeks right now. It’s so lovely, you should see yourself, all  _ rosy _ .” 

He cocked his head to one side, eyes sparkling, with his arms still loosely around her waist. “You know, I  _ think  _ I desire more than anything to make it last. Or expand. Downwards, preferably.  _ Oh, I know, _ ” he chuckled, and Chloe felt dread rise. 

Mixed with excitement. 

If she was honest. 

“ _ Now _ ,” his voice plunged an octave to his special, sweet bedroom growl that was for her ears only, the tone he used on the rare occasion when she demanded, nay desired, dominance of him. Which regularly included red Devil eyes, among other things. 

“ _ Get down on your knees _ .  _ Now. Present your lovely backside to me _ ,” he commanded.

_ Devil, devil, you’ve got me there _ , she thought, as she felt arousal surge through her like burning flame, like scorching fire, so hot that her legs gave way like jelly. 

_ Shit. You win. This time!  _

But!  _ You wait and see!  _

She dropped down onto her stomach obediently and buried her red cheeks and chest in the picnic blanket, arms shielding her face from sight in exasperation. “Yes, my Lord…” she whispered, clinging to the last bit of irony she could muster.

She heard him growl “Good Detective.  _ That’s  _ my queen…”, while he blew hot air into her neck deliberately, nuzzling her, pecking and nipping at her neck. Then she felt his strong hands gently but possessively on her lower back. 

She absolutely loved it. 

_ Sexy as hell, deeply embarrassing and impossibly sweet, all rolled into one Devil.  _

The cap of the sun lotion clicked, then she felt coolness for a second and hissed. He tutted, then his warm, strong hands were back, skillfully massaging the lotion into her skin and the tension out of her muscles. 

_ Ah, the bliss…!  _ She snuggled into the blanket.

Slowly, reverently, as if he’d anointed a queen with balms for her coronation. 

While he expertly worshipped her legs, first the left, then the right (who’d thought that such a thing was even  _ possible  _ with ordinary sun lotion), she was suddenly absolutely sure of one thing: That a lot of couples in their recreational area, whatever gender and mix they were, would have  _ awesome  _ sex tonight. 

Just from observing the two of them. 

_ Urgh!  _ And she was damn sure  _ Lucifer  _ would count that as a win-win. And possibly a win after that.

She shivered again and pressed her face into her arms. Suddenly she wished that she could tackle him, pin him down and strip him of these swimming trunks to feel the full length of him, take him into her hands and… _.  _ she gulped.

As if he’d read her naughty thoughts (he said he wasn’t Jedi, and he didn’t lie, right?), he lowered his mouth to her right ear, nipped at her earlobe and whispered, “You know you can  _ punish  _ me for my bad behaviour tonight, if you so desire, Detective…?”

“You  _ bet  _ I will,” was all she was able to respond while biting her lower lip and fisting her hands into the towels to hold them still.

The openness with which he showed his affection for her was radiant like sunshine, was honest like light, was clear like glacier water - it was heavenly music pouring out of the fountain of their love. 

For the entire world to witness. 

No shadows, no hiding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to @ManuHerz79 for going through my feeble trial at writing. I love your encouraging comments, you're just to sweet-hearted for the world <3


	7. Into the Deep Blue (My Ocean Wonderworld)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trixie discovers the ocean's underwater world with her newfound own Angel. A dive into the deep blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter essentially for my daughter who will probably never read it. She loves apnoe diving (horizontally, not into the abyss) and she is a beautiful treasure to watch underwater. And yes, I have to breath several times before she's at the surface again.

The wind blew landwards from the ocean. Trixie fixed strains of hair behind her ears. To have a good look. 

Three times Caleb had emerged at the surface with lazy grace, had let himself float on his back looking up into the sky. He seemed to be completely relaxed and content with the world. Then he’d adjusted his mask and delved underwater again, slow and practiced, large flippers pointing straight into the air like the fins of a whale. She watched them, mesmerized, until they finally disappeared.

The graceful way he slipped underwater had something immensely peaceful about it. Observing him stirred a longing in Trixie’s chest - if for being closer to Caleb, or for exploring the world underwater, she didn’t know. 

_Time to find out_. 

She stood tall and slipped into her shorty neoprene swimming suit. Lucifer had insisted on buying her a 3-mm one (top quality, black with beautiful wave-y turquoise-blue inlays - she was long past her pink girly phase, thank you very much), insisting that they’d have more time underwater if she didn’t lose her body heat too quickly. 

The Pacific was not _that_ warm during this time of the year, yet.

She struggled a bit to pull her suit up. Finally, she managed to close the zipper and peered out over the water. 

_There!_

Caleb was above the surface, and, and... he looked into her direction. 

_Awww!_ Her heart did a little summersault. Before she knew it, she smiled from ear to ear and waved at him. 

_Shit, Trixie, why can’t you hold back for once!_

A second passed, then another one…

YES! He waved back!

She was sure he’d recognized her. She held up her snorkeling gear and flippers (in the same turquoise-black, the flippers made of very stiff material) and waved them a bit, to convey her intentions to join him. Then she started climbing down the big, dark boulders towards the small sandy shoreline where she could reach the Ocean.

She shivered and groaned a bit as she entered the cold water, lifting her shoulders to her ears when the water went up to her waist, hesitating briefly. 

The water was so crystal clear, and it smelled so amazingly of clean ocean that she had to inhale deeply, closing her eyes in bliss. Peering down into the clear water, she could see a swarm of little, silver-blue fish dash away, to avoid the disturbance her body had caused; a large spider-y crab hid under a nearby boulder.

_Oh-uh. Hopefully it didn’t bite her._

Drawing it out didn’t help with the cold. She gripped her gear and flung herself into the water (bravely, she thought), passing the spot where the crab had hidden. 

_There are much more humans eating crabs than the other way around, urchin_ , _you know that, right?_ she heard a voice with an amused british accent in the back of hear head. _It won’t go for you, as long as you leave it alone. And you’re so much bigger, don’t you think?_

With a little pang of guilt she thought of Lucifer, who’d promised to introduce her to all of this. Maybe, _maybe…_ he’d even looked forward to it? 

It was hard to tell, with him, what he really thought. Although her mum always assured her that he loved to be with her SO much more than he let on. And she’d started to believe it, recently, which…

_Yeah, well. Feeling guilty a bit, here._

Looking up ahead, she saw Caleb crawl towards her and her heart did that little leap of joy again, all regrets immediately forgotten. 

He was coming for her! _How awesome was that??_

She shifted her mask up to her forehead to look at him properly while treading water and trying to slip into her first flipper. Which went well, giving her much more power to hover on the spot where she was. The second refused a bit and for a moment, she feared that she’d lost it, but then it slipped onto her foot. 

Caleb stopped in front of her, dimples emerging, while she felt herself smiling like a loon. They watched each other breathlessly, then they both “Hi”ed at the same time to keep the staring and smiling from becoming awkward. 

Both burst into giggles, then Trixie blurted out, “if I lose a flipper, does it sink down?”

He smiled, shaking his head, then he disappeared shortly from sight. When he re-emerged, he let his flipper swim between them. “No, look,” he smiled, “they may drift off when there’s currents and wind, but they float. Like an iceberg. Most of them is underwater, but they don’t sink.”

“Good!” Trixie was relieved. “You know, this is my first time out here with all this… stuff.” She pointed to her mask. “I- I am good in swimming class, but… I never did this, diving, snorkeling. Not.. really, I mean. Just kids stuff, when I was younger. Would you…” she hesitated, while his eyes seemed to twinkle. 

“Would you let me…” he supplied simultaneously. 

“...show me / show you…?” they said in unison. 

“Yes!” they beamed at each other, two pairs of dimples dancing on the waves like sun sparks on a bright morning. “That would be awesome!” Trixie added.

He smiled radiantly. “Over there is a good spot.” He pointed towards a patch of water south of their current place where the water seemed to be a bit lighter. “It’s not as deep as it is here.” 

“How deep is it, here?” she asked. 

“I guess about 25 foot, 8 meters. At the other spot, it’s perhaps 9 foot. Do you… would you like to… “ he hesitated again. 

“...watch you dive down?” Trixie finished his sentence for him, while an excited smile bathed her features in sparkling joy. “Yes! Very much so. And- can you explain…?”

“I’m happy to, if you’ll have my two cents” he replied, smiling tentatively. 

She grinned. “Sure.”

“First, the most important thing of all is that you have to feel the deep, you have to slow and calm down. Think about moving like a turtle underwater. Don’t think “I have no air”. You do have air, much more than you think. You have the more, the more of a sea turtle you can manage to become. The need for breathing is triggered by the CO2 piling up in your blood, not so much from the lack of oxygen. If you move slowly, you produce less CO2 in your blood and you consume less oxygen. Diving is about being calm. Imagine you’re a visitor allowed to visit a sacred place. Move slowly, observing, appreciating….” 

His gentle brown eyes captured hers, to check out how she’d taken his words. His look was even a bit… _challenging_. As if he’d expect her to laugh at him. 

She thought she understood what he meant. She nodded slowly. 

“Does that help me to stay a bit longer underwater? And- and to see more... things?” she asked. He exhaled and smiled, as if he’d held his breath. “Exactly,” he confirmed and slipped his mask on. “Let me show you.” 

There was a tiny spark of pride in his voice. _Cute_.

He lay there on the water surface, observing something below, exhaling slowly and deeply through the snorkel. Totally relaxed. Then his upper body moved into a 90° angle downwards and his legs with the flippers went up into the air like before.

When she managed to put her mask back on to have a good view of him, he was already 7-8 feet deep, moving his flippers in unison as if it were the fins of a dolphin. Slowly, gracefully, deeper and deeper. She observed how his fingers grabbed his nose shortly while still diving deeper. Finally he reached the rocks below, floating over them, looking left and right, gently touching the surfaces. 

_How long could he stay down there? Unbelievable!_

Trixie drew breath through her snorkel at least 10 times already, gratefully for every lung ful, before she saw that his left hand moved gently forward and took something. His body then shifted into a vertical position, head pointing upward, and he gave two short, powerful flicks with his “fins”, dolphin-fashion. Then he didn’t do much, just move in lazy waves while the updraft seemed to pull him towards the surface faster and faster. 

His head broke through the waves. He blew water from his snorkel like a whale in a fountain. It sounded as if a water cannon exploded. He grinned at her while he shoved his mask back up his forehead. 

“Look what I found,” he announced with joy and held his palm flat in front of her. When she came closer, he murmured a word in Ohlone she didn’t get. 

“It’s a _Morningstar_ ”, he translated, grinning. “It’s named after a legend of my people. Officially, they’re named sunflower stars.”

On his palm sat a small, beautiful yellow-orange ‘Morningstar’, one that had four proper arms, and one rather short arm that was lighter in colour. “Little guy must have had an encounter with a sheep crab or a black-headed seagull,” he smiled. “Look, his missing, eaten arm is now growing back. And it will grow many more arms until it’s an adult” 

“Awesome! How many?” 

Caleb chuckled. “Up to 24 arms. Wish we could do that, too, grow back limbs.” 

Trixie was briefly tempted to talk of the other Morningstar she knew who _was_ able to grow back limbs. Well, wings. But she bit her cheeks.

Caleb held the little creature out to her, a questioning look on his face. “Do you want to…” while she said, “Can I…?”, hesitantly holding out her hand.

He nodded and smiled. He sounded so excited by the sea creature which was utterly adorable. “Adult Morningstars can become up to 39 inches [1 m] in diameter, can you believe it?” he supplied. 

“... _and_ with 24 arms. That’s SO cool,” she confirmed. “And the size is just - wow! _That_ big?” Trixie tentatively stretched her hand forward. Carefully, they detached the sea star’s tiny tube feet from his hand and let it climb onto her palm. It tickled. 

Their hands brushed briefly - she was kind of hyper-aware of it. 

“It- it… _sticks_ to me, somehow”, her eyes went large. Then she looked up at Caleb. “So this one is just a baby?” 

“Yes, I guess it is,” he confirmed.

“Can you- can you bring it back, so that it doesn’t get eaten?” she asked, eying the shrieking sea gulls above their heads suspiciously. 

He smiled, looking pleased by her request. “Sure, I’m gonna put it back into its hiding spot. Just a moment...” He adjusted the mask and took the little sea critter back from her. Then he went back down. 

She liked how careful he handled the baby Morningstar, protecting it in his palms, then putting it back exactly to the little overhanging rock with the mussels and seaweed on them from where he’d taken it earlier. 

He seemed to have an inner underwater map tattooed into his memory. 

For reasons she didn’t understand, there suddenly was the funny feeling you sometimes got in a hot tub in her belly. It felt so… warm, glowing. 

She shivered, but it wasn’t the cold: A little sun bloomed and danced inside her, it’s rays tickling behind her navel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caleb started to teach Trixie how to handle the mask and the snorkel, both staying close to the surface. He had shown her the first sets of hand signs that divers used to communicate underwater.

They had practiced the “o.k.” sign several times because Trixie had the tendency to use a “thumbs up” instead, which meant “let’s get to the surface”, while “everything’s o.k.” was an “o”, formed with the thumb and index finger. 

In between, they took their time to warm up again, sitting together on a large flat boulder near the shoreline where she’d left her stuff (far away enough from embarrassing Deckerstar to be hopefully safe). 

Talking was so easy, it flowed between them so nicely that she totally forgot about Lucifer and her mum. Then, when warmed up enough, they went into the water again.

Finally they floated along, side by side, over the amazing underwater landscape. It felt to her as if they were flying. It was so dreamlike…. she wished this would never end. 

Caleb pointed out marine organisms and things to her that he thought might be of interest, or that he found fascinating himself. Often, he went down with his lazy, elegant movements (she couldn’t get _enough_ of watching him) to fetch something for her to look at. 

His marine biological and physical knowledge around diving, water pressure and all of that was extensive - for a moment, the thought surfaced that just putting half of what he’d shown her into her report would make it an “A” grade immediately. 

But who cares about school projects, when you can ‘fly” side by side with the Angel of your dreams! 

His “lectures” didn’t feel school-y at all, rather, he seemed to radiate with joy that she was there to share the amazing underwater world with him. As if he’d let her in on a wonderful secret or shared a treat.

“Are you ready for your first dive?” he asked. “Y-yes and no. I mean, I am, I want to try, but…,” she hesitated. 

He waited patiently. 

She took a leap of faith. 

“I always have difficulties getting down when I try so far. I mean- I have seen how you do it and it looks so effortlessly. But I- I’m mostly just splashing around at the surface, with- with parts of m- me… um. Staying there.” Her cheeks flushed at the confession. 

Although his eyes glistened, his response was serious, without the slightest glee. “Don’t worry, that’s normal, but easy to avoid if you know how to. See, there’s a trick. You let your own body weight do the job for you. By doing a handstand, so to say. Put your legs up in the air. Can you do that in the gym?” 

She nodded. “Great! Their weight shoves you underwater all by itself. You only start moving your flippers once your feet are underwater, not earlier.” 

She nodded, relieved. “That- that actually makes sense. I’ll try,” she eyed him, “but don’t laugh.”

“I won’t, scout’s honours!”

Trixie applied her mask, then concentrated on being calm. Only her heartbeat was all too wild. Then she imitated the movements she’d seen him doing, head pointing downwards, flippers up in the air. Thankfully, her legs really went up, counting once, counting twice...

_It worked!_

She felt how her own weight shoved her into the water. Finally, she could move her flippers to gain momentum…. they drove her downwards! Awesome! Wow, there was the ground already - she looked around and spotted several dark sea urchins, sitting on the rocky bottom like little cactus plants. Only the pressure in her ears was a bit uncomfortable.

Suddenly she noted that she needed air, urgently, like - _yesterday_! Her heart beat wildly and she employed strong strokes with her flippers to get back to the surface. 

She broke through the surface and recognized she had a problem: the snorkel was full of water. She wrenched it out of her mouth and gulped in air. 

But she’d done it. She shoved her mask up her forehead and grinned at Caleb. 

“You did it! You made it downwards, well done!” Caleb’s eyes sparkled with joy, for her, even with pride. It was as if he’d just re-lived his own first dive. 

“What did you see?” he asked, full of the excitement that she felt.

*****************

They spent the next hour at their just 20 feet-deep, stoney ridgeback practice grounds, alternating between diving and warming up at “their” camp close to the shore. 

With her very own determinedness, her mind set straight at her goal, Trixie practiced diving down and moving underwater. She’d also learned how to alleviate the pressure building up in her ears, by squeezing her nose shut and exerting pressure from the inside until her membranes did this “knack”, which allowed her to go deeper and deeper without any pain.

She got the hang of it quickly, according to Caleb, who seemed even prouder by her newly acquired abilities than she was herself. She even was able now to use the remaining air in her lungs to blow the water that had collected in her snorkel out like a fountain, which felt highly _professional_. She loved doing it.

And the best of it all, besides doing this together with HIM (capital letters still) was the world underwater. Alice had nothing on her with her wonderworld - the ocean, it was absolutely awesome! 

She now managed to slow and calm her heartbeat before a dive and was surprised to learn how long she was able to stay down - not as long as Caleb, of course, but much longer than she _ever_ had before. 

The glistening deep blue, backing and calling, the silence, the small cracking, sizzling sounds that waves and stones made underwater…. it was so soothing, so peaceful. 

Together, they had spied on a sheep crab that moved along like a shy spider. Untypically, it had itself camouflaged with little bits of rock and seaweed, plus it was covered in anemones. 

And there was this large egg-yolk jelly that majestically pulsed along, with several tiny jack fish hitchhiking along in its tentacles - Caleb explained that an entire army of other marine creatures often used egg-yolk jellyfish to travel the ocean, protected by its tentacles. And that touching it would produce a mild, annoying sting, but was not poisonous.

And there was this cute little octopus that changed its colours, while it wavered between trying to hide and being curious about the two strange humans in its element. The little creature had sent Caleb into total excitement, because it shouldn’t be found on these shores, he told her when they got to the surface to replenish their oxygen reserves.

To breath, to talk, to float along. Smiling, laughing, dimples dancing.

And diving back into their wonderworld, into the deep blue, again and again. 

Which was why they didn’t hear the sounds of several motors, at first, which drew rapidly closer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have guessed from the descriptions, I love to see people dive and I love the underwater biology - but most of all, I love that my dauther loves it. I tried to gift Trixie with this joy. But, alas, the next chapter is action-packed. Dum, dum, dum, dum....


	8. Save the Sea Shepherd, Save the Fallen Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @Navaros, this chapter and the next is especially for you - I hope you like it <3  
> The summary is easy, it's "....aaaand action!"  
> *grins*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My song choice accompanying the action part where Lucifer shows up (duh, of course he does in the end!) is "Archangel" from Two Steps From Hell.  
> Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/3pTNVDJpzaLxiZnbC18SMX?si=M2YmefvuSIWgc3T7m4NIaQ

Trixie was gliding across the rocky floor, studying sea urchins and a bunch of skeleton shrimps that inhabited seaweed, changing their colours rapidly the moment she approached them with her hand. Suddenly, she noticed Caleb pointing his thumb upwards - there was urgently in his body language. 

Slightly worried, she responded with the “o.k.” sign and both broke through the surface. 

Then she noticed them, too. 

Water jet ski motor scooters. 

At least four or maybe five of them, drawing nearer rapidly. She couldn’t tell who steered them. Boys? Young men? Jostling each other, jeering, racing - yeah. Definitely five guys who chased something that desperately tried to escape them … 

“A California Sea lion, with a cub”, Caleb shouted in dismay “No! Hands off! They- they’ll hurt them…” Without a second of hesitation, he crawled towards the commotion, clearly intending to stop them. 

A half-grown boy against five men. With motor vehicles.

_Horrible odds. Not a good mixture. Nope. Not at all._

Trixie didn’t admire his fluent movements this time. Her heart hammered in her chest. He wouldn’t stand a chance! “Caleb, stop!” she shouted. 

He didn’t hear, head and face in the water, only emerging sideways for a short gulp of air on every third arm stroke. Of course he couldn’t hear her. Trixie felt terrible, completely helpless, as she watched the scene unfold.

Before Caleb could reach the group, the first of the gang, a blonde with shoulder-long hair ran his machine over the animals, laughing and jeering. 

Trixie’s ears caught something like “I got them first” wafting towards her, together with the ear-splitting shriek that the cub let out. The vehicle’s screw that had run over its sensitive skin had sliced it open. 

The scream pierced through her, chilling her to the bone. It sounded so agonized, so _human_.

She saw Caleb double down in his efforts, going impossibly fast in the water until he was nearly there. She saw him stop and heard him shouting, out of breath, “Stop! This is protected Natural Reserve area! You’re not allowed to be driving here…,” when several things happened simultaneously.

The female sea lion attacked! 

Trixie did an inward fist-pump. _Yes, yes, yes!_

The adult sea lion rammed the motor vehicle, in a self-sacrificing last effort to protect its injured young, biting and snapping at the young man’s ankles and at parts of the vehicle - Trixie heard a metal crunching noise. 

The fierce sea lion finally managed to unbalance the young man, who desperately tried to save his left leg from the furious-desperate animal. His arms and long blonde hair flailed for a moment wildly, before he fell into the water with a mighty _splash_. 

Caleb had now nearly reached Blondie. Unfortunately, the danger wasn’t over. The other motor jet-ski vehicles started to circle both of them menacingly. Trixie couldn’t hear what Caleb shouted at them, but it was clear that he was filled with rage at the violation of the protected area, at the utter cowardice of hunting down the peaceful creatures. The bastards on the other hand were furious because of the sea lion’s attack and the escape of their prey. 

If Trixie had needed any indication that Caleb was rooted in this landscape, that he felt that it was his duty to defend, to protect it: this was it.This total disregard for his own damn safety.

Her danger alarm bells rang, nay, shrieked, like mad.

At the same time, she saw one of Blondie’s buddys take aim at Caleb. Her heart missed a beat. 

“No, NO! _Leave him alone!_ ” she shouted in desperation. She started crawling into their direction too, knowing perfectly well that she was neither a match nor a real obstacle for them. 

But she couldn’t let them hurt him, _she just couldn’t._

There was a brief, awkward moment of silence, as if everything hung suspended in mid air. The noise of the vehicles had, by coincidence, died down as the gang considered their tactics.

That was why she heard it. 

She had no idea that voices could carry over flat water _this_ wide and clear. But she wouldn’t forget the hateful voice, ever.

_You’re dead, man, I’ll just say you attacked me. The cops, they always decide for self-defense, when it’s us versus - you. Get him, Clive!_

The viciousness, the evil rancerousness, sent chills up her spine.

Because she intuitively knew it was true.

Because they would claim self-defense, would claim it to have been an accident, “oops, sorry” - _and they would get away with it._

She knew they would. And it was so wrong, oh, so painfully wrong!

Her heart broke with the clicking, tinkling sound of a clear crystal. Another of her blessed childhood walls crumbled.

The brown-haired goon took aim, laughing out loud, a vicious, fanatic expression in his eyes. His vehicle roared up as he sped towards Caleb.

Then it finally came to her, much too late. She slammed her hands together, desperately, thoughts tumbling like a debris avalanche.

_Lucifer, I need you, we need you! Please! Now, like - immediately! They- they’re trying to kill him, they - help us, please, help, help…._

Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, beating furiously.

She tried to pray again, but her thoughts became incoherent. Instead, she resumed speeding towards the group and watched the scene unfold, helplessly, uselessly.... 

Just the moment before Clive would hit Caleb with his vehicle, she _knew_ what Caleb’s move would be: Her friend dived down elegantly, flippers sinking in _just_ the fraction of a second before Blondie’s buddy ran over the spot where he’d disappeared. _Ha!_

Trixie stopped, she held her breath. They circled the spot where he had been, searching if they could could catch a glimpse of him - to hunt him down, like the sea lions they’d hurt. 

They dared to hurt him, _dared_ to threaten his life, just because they were sure they’d get _away_ with it. 

_Damn the clear water in this place! They’ll spot him, he can’t hide._

She pressed her hands together again. 

_Lucifer, please, please help…please, come!_

She saw Caleb emerge, gulp for air and dive down again immediately, another short escape just in time. Her heart hammered and she felt as oxygen-deprived as he must be by now. Her chest constricted painfully. 

She resumed her crawl towards them, but she was just too far away.

Then it hit her: maybe she could cause a distraction. She had to do something, she had to! 

They would hunt him until he was out of air, until they could hurt him, kill him… for them, it seemed to be a _sport_. 

A spark of fury ignited inside her chest, roaring up like a wildfire. _No, no, you don’t, cowards! Not on my watch!_

She used her flippers to propel her upper body out of the water briefly, to be seen, shouting at them at the top of her lungs, shaking her fists with the overwhelming _rage_ she felt. 

_“HEY, MURDERERS! I SEE YOU! YOU BLOODY COWARDS!”_

Angst mixed with absolute fury cursed through her veins and she thought of Maze. _How could they? How dare they...?_

Five heads turned and watched her. She saw Caleb break the surface behind them and gulp desperately for air, trying to gain distance. 

Then three of them turned their vehicles - they went for _her_. She’d probably be later claimed “collateral damage” or an “accident” as well. 

Of “young men having fun”, who just “happened to make a mistake”. Who couldn't be truly held accountable, in court, because their “young lives would be ruined” otherwise.

Suddenly, with a blinding flash of pain slashing through her heart, she _understood_ why her mum wanted to be a cop, why she wanted to make a difference, to bring justice. 

The other two, who were not speeding towards her, had now unfortunately noticed Caleb who’d emerged behind them about 60 feet away. They took aim at him again, with their motor jet-ski devices roaring up. 

The two seals had escaped, long forgotten by the hunters, who now chased a new and more challenging prey - _them_.

_Lucifer, I need you, like, yesterday. Please, Lucifer… please... is this thing on?_

Watching them speed towards her, Trixie suddenly felt a strange calm and clarity overcome her. 

_Maze, Maze…_

She wouldn’t go down without a fight, no, she wouldn’t. They wanted to get her, to harm her? Well, then _she_ would harm _them_ , _too._

_She’d get them off their vehicles, like the mother sea lion had done, she’d use all the tricks Maze had ever taught her, she…_ her body prepared for the fight. _Wrath and clarity._

When the curly red-haired, broad-shouldered scumbag with the cruel mouth, who was leading the pack of three, was about 100 feet away from her, she started to swim towards the shore, making a show of it, but actually saving her strength. She looked repeatedly over her shoulder, as if she was afraid, to lull him in false safety. She forcefully tried to calm her heart beat down. 

_“Have you ever seen a mother bird, protecting their young, by mimicking being injured?”_ she heard Maze instruct her in her head. _“Nice strategy playing weak when you’re small, saved me so many times….”_

Just the second before he would hit her, she ducked underwater by exhaling deeply and shoving water upwards with her hands, letting herself sink like Caleb had shown her earlier.

It worked. Just two feet of water over her head was enough. 

Gorilla-jaw stopped the vehicle directly over her, peering down but failing to spot her. 

Then _she_ took aim, including the density fraction that the water did to her vision into her calculation. Maze had trained her well. 

With just three strong strokes of her flippers, she shot out of the water on the other side of him, gripping his right leg and ankle and yanked, _hard_. Her nails bored into his flesh like the teeth of the sea lion.

Gorilla-jaw gave a loud, terrified girlish shriek, lost his balance and splashed into the water. With two powerful strokes of her flippers, Trixie sped away to gain distance, aka reaction time (“Never underestimate your opponents’ strength, Trix”, she heard Maze’s training voice, “never celebrate a victory. Use your speed and small size to your advantage instead.”) 

Which she’d done. Her heart hammered.

But now the other two jet-ski riders had pulled up, circling around her. 

_They had her trapped!_

She braced herself, jaw grimly set.

Suddenly, the water beneath her boiled and shimmered in a glowing turquoise-blue, as if a large, sharp piece of glacier was shooting through it six feet below her belly. 

The brown-haired boy with the ugly grimace (Clive, she remembered) and his vehicle that was closest to her suddenly erupted from the ocean’s surface in a huge fountain of water, screams, and flailing Clive-arms and -legs. 

Something _big and powerful had_ sent him and the vehicle flying in different directions, the motor roaring, the scumbag screaming and flailing. 

Both fell in surprisingly graceful arcs of their own. 

It was a really good aim: Clive came crashing down on number three, a dark-allover-haired Gorilla-like guy, knocking him off his vehicle effectively. The latter sank immediately, leaving a nasty, shimmering, rainbow-colored oil film on the surface. 

Which, funnily, immediately burst into flame, evaporating in an instant, leaving Gorilla-guy yelping, with a funny fire-haircut where half of his facial hair was missing on the left side closest to the fire flash. _What the…?_

 _Isn’t he smoking hot…..?_ her mind supplied, helpfully, followed by devillish snickering. Gosh, Lucifer was really rubbing off of her, wasn’t he?

The empty vehicle of Flying-Clive suddenly uprighted itself and turned on. It stuttered back into life, as if someone sat on it. 

Clive and his gang buddy shouted behind it, splashing and paddling on the spot, commanding it to _stop_. 

It ignored them, of course it did, and started tuckering away lazily, as if mocking them.

_Lucifer! If she’d needed any confirmation that it was him, this was it: Who else could turn anything on?_

She couldn’t see him, but the turquoise shimmering had spoken volumes to her - how, _how_ on earth was he swimming _that_ fast? Was he using his wings underwater, or did he have other angelic abilities she didn’t know of, yet?

And what was it with the strange _sounds…_? 

A cacophony of clicks, squeaks and whistles reached her ears when her head went briefly underwater in a wave. She had the distinct feeling that some of the sounds came from… _Lucifer_. 

How?

Yet the sounds were oddly familiar. 

_Where_ had she heard these sounds before, where…

Meanwhile, Red-Hair whom she had brought down had clambered back onto his vehicle. He’d obviously missed all the _fun_ (a word her mind nicely supplied in Maze’s voice), roaring up the jet ski to take aim at her again, face contorted in rage. 

The stupid git. _Careful, careful, you bloody son of a bitch,_ Trixie thought, again in Maze’s voice, _there’s a_ much _bigger, badder Devil in the playground than you, poor sod, will ever manage to be!_

She stared him down menacingly, grinning and flipping him the bird, while he roared towards her. 

Closer, _closer…_

Just before Red-Hair could run over her, the sea in front of her welled up like a mountain wave of molten lava, dark-red and black skin, still shimmering with the unearthly turquoise-blue, with electric lightning bolts striking and bristling from within a wild tsunami of colour, movement and utter _might_.

He cried out in horror as something large, nightmarish, with blood-red fins-slash-wings shot up and expanded out of the water in front of him. Red-hot glowing eyes bored into the young man’s while the Devil’s blackened teeth were bared at him in a menacing grin. Lucifer’s growl shook the ocean like an earthquake, reverberating on all planes of existence. 

But the sound filled Trixie’s heart with joy and gratitude. _Lucifer is here,_ it sang, _he came..._

For Redhead, however, all Hell had broken loose - before his eyes as much as in his heart, after one look into the flaming inferno in the Devil’s eyes. 

A creature straight out of his worst nightmares had erupted out of the water, leathery wings and claws stretched towards him to rip him apart. 

Redhead shrieked, shrieked, _shrieked_ \- high-pitched, wailing, horrified. 

Trixie couldn't tell if he threw himself backwards to escape the furious devil, or if he’d just lost his balance (together with any dignity he might have possessed) as he splashed into the water again. 

In the next moment, she saw first the water, then the air shimmer blue around Redhead as he was lifted up. Suddenly, he was thrown away like a puppet. She mused that his ass had received a mighty _kick_ , King-of-Hell style.

She fist-bumped the air and whooped incoherently, wild retaliation rising, flooding her chest like a wave. 

_Sweet, sweet payback!_

But then - she heard Caleb cry out in pain. Her head flew around. How could she have forgotten him, how?

_They had finally cornered him!_

Blondie, who had managed to climb onto his vehicle again after the sea lion’s attack and the last one of his remaining, overly self-confident, bulky goonies, had Caleb pinned between both their jet ski scooters, trying to hit him with their fists, to push him down - to run over him with the swirling, roaring screws. 

Her friend tried his best to fight back, to imbalance them, to bring them down. But she could tell how exhausted he was from his repeated hiding dives. She could nearly feel his oxygen-deprivation as if it were her own, his bursting, aching lungs, his exhaustion.

Both of the bloody sods were too concentrated on their prey, their motors too loud to have noticed what had happened to their fellow scumbags. 

Caleb cried out in pain again as Blondie punched him, hard. His head hit the motor vehicle of the second sod with a sickening thud. 

His soft groan wafted over the water, echoed in her ears, shattered her heart.

His eyes closed, Caleb went limb. 

Slowly, elegantly, he sank underwater like a broken doll, while the goons laughed and high-fived each other with glee. 

Trixie cried, her chest heaved in desperation. She swam towards them as fast as she could, lungs aching. Tears streamed down her face without her noticing, their salt mingling with the sea and blurring her view… she was too far away!

Then she slipped her mask on, blinking, gulping in as much air as she could get and dived. To watch him sinking down, to see where his body went, to trace, to catch, to _hold_ him with her eyes ---

His body sank gracefully, curving, black hair floating around him like seaweed. 

_She was too far away, she couldn’t reach him in time, she could just watch… no-no-no…_

Suddenly, the water around Caleb was shimmering glacier-blue. In the next second, she saw Lucifer reveal himself - bare-chested and beautiful like a sea god. No, he didn’t use flippers - he used his huge, shimmering, now white-again wings, tucked closer to his body than in air flight, propelling him, nay _flying_ him forward underwater. 

Wow. He was elegant like an Albatross or rather… _cape gannets!_ She’d once seen them in a National Geographic documentary - sea birds who dived into the water like missiles, hunting fish while flying underwater. 

_YesYesYES!!!!_

She saw Lucifer snatch her angel into his arms, giving her the diver’s “o.k.” sign with his trademark Lucifer grin, then--- 

He sped towards the shore like a winged torpedo. And then-

The ocean around them suddenly erupted into life, into sound. The sea was swirling, boiling, _bursting_ with clicking, whistling, cheering sounds. Was brimming with life, with _joy_.

The cavalry had arrived.

And _now_ she finally recognized the sounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I STILL don't take bills for your dentist - borrowing a bit of early-kid-memories sea creature cuteness - do you guess what's coming? Of course you do! Love you all! <3


	9. Cavalry Backup Ball Games and Angel Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Devil submarines, urchin, at your service. Am I allowed to carry you out of the water, into the arms of your mother?” he asked, head slightly cocked to one side. “She’s going to need a hug from you,” he informed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Trixie-Lucifer bonding and I hope it shows.

_ Dolphins!  _

A huge,  _ huge  _ number of dolphins were suddenly whirling around them. Grey backs with white bellies, yellow patches at the flanks. There must be hundreds and hundreds of them.

_ A super-pod!  _

Trixie was suddenly dead sure that Lucifer had called them. Well, he spoke every language - why not  _ dolphin-ish? Erm-Ugh...maybe those were all female dolphins? _

She still recognized  _ his  _ “voice” out there in the cacophony, it was deeper, more powerful and it had more range than that of all members of the school. 

He seemed to instruct them, somehow.  _ Or did he? _

A flock of about eight or nine dolphins came straight for her. Before she could even start to feel anxious, two of them gently nudged her with their snouts, then put themselves under her armpits to pull her forward ( _ aaaaa...awesome, awesome, AWESOME! _ ) 

Towards the shore. Wow.  _ Really? Dolphins?? _

She was carried along, holding onto the amazing wild creatures in breathless awe. Just out of the corner of her eyes, she saw how the boiling swarm of dolphins started to play “ball” with the gang members, shoving and poking them with their snouts so absolutely  _ not  _ gently, splashing their fins at them. 

She heard loud slapping when their fins hit their their human ‘playball’s’ cheeks (face or backside, dealer’s choice). With accuracy and strength and, obviously, aimed  _ precision _ . Nicely confirmed by terrified human squeaks and yelps that were…  _ yes, admit it, Trixie  _ \- just the  _ sweetest music ever _ in her ears. 

Soon, every other thought evaporated from her mind, due to the pure magnificence of her first, all-too-short dolphin ride. 

The speed was breathtaking. The fiercely protective members of ‘her’ little sub-pod seemed to switch places, as if they all wanted to have their share at helping to shove her forward - with strength but surprising gentleness. 

She didn’t dare to move her fins in fear of hitting the animals, but they didn’t need her help anyway. Never, ever, had she been  _ that  _ fast in the water, it rushed to the side as if she was a jet ski herself. 

All too soon, they came close to the beach, back to where her adventure had started. 

Trixie looked up and noted that a large number of people had gathered at the shore, pointing at them with excitement, worry and even awe on their faces, her mum among them. 

Lucifer was half-way out of the water by now, which still reached up to his hips, carrying Caleb bridal style in his arms. Striding forward, as if the young man weighed nothing, and as if water resistance wasn’t a thing hindering movements. 

_ Was he ok? Please, Lucifer’s Dad, let him be ok! And, and - your son is amazing, by the way. _

She was relieved to see that Lucifer had by now tucked his wings away. It would surely spare them bouts of divine worship, which would be even worse than all the  _ drooling _ . 

Lucifer handed Caleb to another friendly helper, a man the shape and size of Amenadiel, who had waded into the water to offer help. The man took her angel from Lucifer and carried him towards Chloe, who was waiting with a first aid kit, ready for action. (Had mum really taken that with her, for a  _ beach  _ day? That was so  _ mum! _ ). 

_ Oh no, Caleb’s head was still lolling around. What did it mean? Was he…? _

Her mum’s eyes darted back and forth between her and Caleb. Trixie waved reassuringly and pointed to Caleb with urgency, to signal that mum should care for her friend first,  _ please, thank you.  _

She was o.k. No problem. nope. Just stunned. Dazed. Ok, a bit shaken...but o.k.!

The answering sunrise smile on Chloe’s face told her all she needed to know. Love, worry, understanding - funny how  _ much  _ you can say with one glance, wasn’t it?

Caleb seemed to regain consciousness, one hand moving slowly up to hold his (likely aching) head. He coughed, spitting out water as the helper lowered him to where Chloe was kneeling down, preparing to tend to him. 

_Good._ _He wouldn’t have memories of his underwater rescue flight with the Devil, then._

Finally, the dolphins had slowed down, then they stopped. Two of them nudged her gently towards the shoreline. It was so  _ adorable _ .

As the speedy journey came to a halt, Trixie’s legs went from horizontal to vertical. Her flippered feet touched the ground. 

The dolphins obviously sensed that their help was no longer needed. Two of them even seemed to laugh at her, or rather  _ with  _ her, with the  _ joy  _ she felt - her heart  _ burst  _ with gratefulness for them, for the utter privilege of being close to them. 

A feeling that only wildlife could inspire. She  _ so  _ wished that she could express it, that she could  _ tell  _ them what she felt. 

They hesitated, swimming around her, chattering excitedly as if discussing their course of action. 

Until they all heard a deep “dolphin” voice say something gentle and melodious. 

As if on cue, ‘her’ sub-pod gave a cacophony of whistling sounds, then they dashed happily towards the scumbag sods to get their fair share of the ongoing ‘ball game’, joining the ranks of the large pod of their kin. 

She couldn’t help but wave at them. One of the dolphins had the nerve to move upwards on his fluke for a second out of the water, facing her, chattering, as if he’d previously watched one of these sappy movies. 

_ Unbelievable _ .

In the next moment, Lucifer’s head emerged from underwater next to her, blowing water bubbles and emitting a wave of dolphin sounds, grinning like a loon from one ear to the other. 

He wiggled his eyebrows, revelling in her stunned, awed and  _ surely  _ stupid face. Because  _ of course  _ he’d do that!

“Devil submarines, urchin, at your service. Am I allowed to carry you out of the water, into the arms of your mother?” he asked, head slightly cocked to one side. “She’s going to need a hug from you,” he informed her with more seriousness. 

“And maybe, Beatrice,” he added in a whisper, dark eyes shining into hers, “ _ I  _ need a hug, too. If you please. I daresay you gave me  _ quite  _ the angsty incentive for action, child.”

Suddenly, her throat constricted and she was unable to reply. Instead, she reached for Lucifer without words, wrapping her arms around his neck to signal that there was _nothing more_ she wanted to do right now than to hold onto him - nothing more than to have him hold her, protect her, carry her. Nothing!

She buried her face in the crook of his neck while all the tension and fear bled out of her. Her body started to shake with emotions and a few dry sobs escaped her. She felt his strong arms encircle and hold her, pressing her against his warm chest, murmuring “my, my” into her hair. Which was just… wow. 

New.

“J- just g-give m-me a moment, so that mum doesn’t see…” she hiccuped, trying to control the annoying,  _ childish _ outbreak. “J- just a m- moment…” 

She felt him nod. “No worries, urchin. Take your time.” He kept his broad back towards the beach, slowly lifting her out of the water, as if that would take effort for him to do. 

_ Yeah, as if. Good carmouflage,  _ she thought.  _ My Guardian Devil,  _ she prayed, and felt his arms tense briefly in reply _. _

After a few more dry, shaking sobs (she had become quite good at controlling emotions like that, lately), she just breathed heavily a few times, in and out, in and out. Now she got it. 

“Better….?” he asked in a gentle whisper. 

_ So new. _

“M- much better…” she whispered, face still buried in his shoulder. “S- sorry. Thank- thank you so much, Lucifer…” she reinforced her hug until Lucifer made some fun-chortling-choking noises into her ear. 

Probably to lighten the mood. Most likely.

“S- sorry…” she murmured again and lessened her grip 

He chuckled. “It’s fine, Beatrice. You did the right thing by calling me. A bit sooner would have been better, you know that, do you? I needed to run down to the shoreline first to dive into the water, snaily-human style _. _ Your mother would have  _ killed  _ me for pre.. erm, for  _ unfurling  _ at the beach, wouldn’t she?” 

He giggled, high-pitched, with typical Lucifer-lightness. He tightened and released his grip on her lightly while she squeezed back, snuggling her face deeper into the crook of his neck. 

“And I guess I’m not done yet with these bloody wankers. They deserve all the punishment they can get if they gave you and, what’s his name? such a fright.” She inhaled with a trembling sound and sniffed. 

“Now,  _ now _ , there.” She sensed something that felt suspiciously like him pecking her hair. 

_ W- what? SO new! _

“Now. Ready to face your admirers, Beatrice?”

“W-What do you mean?”

As he turned around with her in his arms, they both faced the congregation on the beach. Everyone erupted into cheers and laughter, clapping, whistling, whooping, fist-bumping and snapping pictures. Trixie was  _ so _ tempted to hide her face against his chest  _ again _ . 

But then her gaze met that of her mother who kneeled beside Caleb in the sand, beaming up at her with so much relief, love and happiness that she nearly teared up again.

Yes, it was over. It was over, and they were both alive. Slowly, it started sinking in.

_ Thank… Devil.  _

Who walked out of the water with her in his arms, tall, proud and beautiful like a greek statue, giving little bows left and right to the cheering crowd, beaming and putting on a show. 

To help her get over her little breakdown, she knew that by now. And she loved him for it. 

Even more, if that was possible.

“Meet the Devil’s step daughter, everyone, Beatrice the dolphin rider”, he announced proudly over the intensifying cheering and clapping, holding her forward like a princess prominently. She couldn’t help but smile shyly at all the people who had obviously witnessed their ordeal or at least the dolphin ride, who had probably crossed their fingers for them.

For once, she  _ didn’t  _ have the desire to sink into the ground with Lucifer’s shenanigans, she was by far too grateful for his fulminant rescue. All things considered, the large pod of dolphins was  _ such  _ a good cover-up - Lucifer had clearly outdone himself this time. 

A thought crossed her mind.

_ Maybe someone has my ride on video, so she could post it on my Insta? Take  _ that,  _ Dawn Fairbanks, you bragging bitch. _

As Lucifer waded up the beach to where her mum was tending to Caleb with her secured in his arms Trixie caught words and sentences around her, as the people let them pass,  _ “...did you see the dolphins arrive? The water even glowed blue-green, must be bioluminescence…” “I never thought they could propel a jet-ski  _ that  _ high out of the water, phew…” “and did you see that giant ocean manta ray…? “The manta diablo, you mean? Woah! It was gigantic! Strange colour for a manta, though…” “I didn’t think manta diablo even  _ lived  _ here, how strange,” or “I’ve never seen such a huge, huge number of dolphins… how they helped the girl, it was totally awesome.” Trixie couldn’t agree more to the latter. “They acted as if on command, how funny was that?” _

The moment they reached her mum, Trixie slid out of Lucifer’s arms, squeezing his bicep and then his hands as he helped ease her down in a loving “thanks”. She quickly knelt down beside her mum and Caleb, who still sat on the sand, a confused, shaken look in his eyes. He was breathing heavily and his blue lips slowly returning to rose-red. 

He had obviously vomited all the salt water that he had accidentally swallowed into a shallow sand hollow that he’d dug with his hands and was cleaning his mouth with the help of a water bottle that Chloe had given him. He covered everything with sand, still shaking his head occasionally as if he was dizzy.

A nasty long, bloody set of cuts from the jet-ski scooter’s screw adorned his left shoulder blade. The cuts bled steadily and her mum had started dabbing them gently with disinfectant from her bag. 

Trixie exchanged a glance with her mum. A deep, loving understanding passed between mother and daughter. Trixie had never seen her so shaken but obviously also relieved.

Her mother stopped her dabbing briefly and touched Trixie’s cheek, fixing a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Let’s talk later, baby, yeah?” she smiled painfully.

In that moment Trixie knew. She knew that she could count on her mum, that she would understand. That she wouldn’t scold her, yell at her, for getting herself in danger. Not even when her mum was scared on her behalf beyond her wits. Which she clearly had been. 

Because- she knew. Chloe  _ knew  _ that you didn’t need to seek the danger - the danger seeks  _ you _ , and all you can do is react in a way that you can look into the mirror later. 

Which she had done. Which she would do again. Her mum had recognized that in her eyes.

They smiled, their eyes locking. Trixie stretched out her hand and gently extracted the disinfectant from her mother’s grip, taking over. As if she’d done this a thousand times. 

Her mum nodded and got up, taking a step back to give them a moment.

Trixie’s eyes met with Caleb’s dark, pained ones. “Why did you…,” they started at the same time. 

He nodded, while she shook her head. 

“Because I- I just  _ had  _ to,” she whispered. And so did he. 

Two sets of dimples emerged like shy little  _ Morningstars _ from their sea floor hiding shelters after a tsunami had devastated the coastline. 

Then Trixie threw all caution to the winds and her arms around Caleb’s neck, rocking him back and forth, while he embraced her slowly, shyly in response, a look of disbelief, of  _ awe  _ in his eyes. Mingled with sadness and pain.

“So glad you’re ok,” she whispered. 

“No, I’m glad that  _ you’re _ o.k. I- I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you,” he breathed back, his jar working, brows wrinkled. “I- I should have seen that coming, I shouldn’t have gone after them, but the- the cub...and, and- I didn’t think they would….” His voice broke and his chest heaved heavily.

After a brief moment both let go of each other. This was awkward. But also good. But- everyone could see them. Aka, awkward. So, there was that. 

Both conveniently ‘forgot’ that they were still holding hands, smiling at each other. The world outside did just not matter. 

This was why they didn’t notice that the air around them seemed to bristle with electricity. There was even growling thunder in the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe observed her daughter and her companion closely and frowned _. Um, o.k….?  _ This was obviously more than just a shared adventure, was it, now? How had this happened so fast? Well, maybe the waning high-tide of adrenaline was a nice catalyzer, but there seemed to be more to it. Interesting. 

Trix looked up at her as if she’d felt her mum’s thoughts. “Mu-um. it’s ok, I got this. See?” she held up the gauze with the disinfectant. “We had this first-aid practice last year. I do it and you check, o.k.? Chloe gave her the thumbs-up and grinned.

As much as she wanted to hug her daughter right now, the two of them seemed to be good for each other. Shared agony made strong consorts. Who knew that better than a cop?

Then Chloe sighed and went to stop the looming thunderstorm, taking her Devil’s large hands in her small ones, squeezing them gently.

“Everything is as it should be,” she whispered. “Let go, Lucifer. Please…. he’s no threat, no danger. You don’t need to defend her, you already did, Love. Please, Lucifer, calm down. They- they support each other. Like we do. See?” 

The low-vibration growling that hung in the air and made people turn their heads for clouds slowly, slowly started to die down. 

Lucifer glared at the two heads that were stuck together without blinking, his irises still swirling with red, the air charged with electricity. She wasn’t sure that he was even aware of what he was doing. 

After a second, his unblinking red eyes flicked first to her, then back to the boy’s dark, bowed head, then back to her. Then he blinked.

She exhaled, only noting now that she had held her breath. She smiled softly into his confused eyes that revealed a cacophony of different emotions, cupping his subbled cheek with one hand. 

Emotions none of which he probably understood himself - fear, love, wrath, gentleness, care, even jealousy. Which he would deny furiously. But she’d seen it.

They’d have a lot to talk about later. Like,  _ a lot _ . She reached up with her other hand, nudging him to lean down to her. 

“Lucifer, stay.  _ Good Devil _ ”, she whispered into his ear, her grin evident in her voice. “Not only good -  _ Superhero  _ Devil, in fact. That was… wow, just wow, Lucifer!” She pecked his lips. 

He blinked for the second time, beaming at her as if  _ she’d _ saved the day, not him. Mixed with a bit of confusion and surprise that she appreciated what he’d done. His eyes slowly faded back to their warm dark brown.

_ God, you never gave your kids any kind of positive feedback, did you? You just expected them to function, like tools. How is  _ that  _ good parenting?  _

Chloe directed her mental eye-roll heaven-ward. She did that more often, lately, on behalf of her Angel, whenever he was so utterly taken aback by her affection. As if he didn’t deserve neither affection nor love, none of it. His self-loathing filled oceans, and she wondered if her lifetime would ever be enough to drain even  _ one  _ of them.

“You need to show me how you can go so fast underwater, later, that was absolutely unbelievable!” She smiled, caressing his face with her fingers. 

“I gladly will, Detective. If you ever crave a turbo-tandem dive with your personal Sea Devil, you just need to say the word.”

Chloe squeezed his hand. “I can hardly wait. But first things first, right?” He nodded, calm again.

Crisis averted, Devil tamed. 

Thank…  _ whomever _ , that Trixie had failed to notice the looming storm against her new friend, comrade, crush? Whatever he was, Chloe intended to find out more about him asap, together with what  _ actually  _ transpired out there. 

When she’d gotten down to the beach, after Lucifer had suddenly sprinted towards the shoreline as if hounded by Amenadiel trying to send him back to Hell she’d just seen her daughter swimming towards the shoreline, looking over her shoulder in fear at a lad on a jet ski who was speeding towards her. Her heart had nearly stopped when she’d seen how her girl had suddenly disappeared, and started to beat again when Trixie had shot out of the water and skillfully yanked down the lad from his vehicle. She’d seen that two others were trying to corner a dark-haired head that disappeared again and again. 

And then, all Hell had broken loose, thanks to their guardian Devil.

Chloe knelt down and handed Trixie pieces of gauze and medical duct tape to cover the cuts on Caleb’s shoulder one by one. The bleeding had slowed down into a trickle. 

“Hold still”, Chloe heard her telling Caleb, who nodded obediently and buried his forehead on his arms that were propped up on his knees, sighing. 

If in bliss or pain, Chloe couldn’t tell. Probably both. 

They both focused their attention on Trixie. Whose attention was solely focused on her obedient charge, uttering firm advice.

Chloe felt that Lucifer slowly cached up. 

_ Finally _ .

A head-strong mini-image of a certain Detective sat on the sand, fully in contriol of the situation. 

And a mini-image of her Devil melted under her hands, head bowed down, with a happy grin on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, out there in the boiling, cheering and chattering ocean playground, five bruised young men had finally managed to scramble onto four demolished jet-ski devices, to flee the scene. Leaving a trail of shattered shards of their former high-flying pride behind them as they went. 

With the entire pod of Californian dolphins jumping, splashing and chasing around them - with what for sure was unadulterated dolphin _glee_.

The Devil looked out over the ocean as he wrapped his arms around his love’s waist, grinning. She pressed her back against his warm chest, revelling in his grounding touch, hugging his arms towards her. 

He rested his chin on her hair, inhaling her. 

He scoffed. “You know, Chloe,” he mused, contemplatively, “I think I’ll let them go, for now. They’re thoroughly bruised, and so is their ego. Punishment by public humiliation is still my favorite for bullies.” 

He paused, then he giggled. “Did you know? Fun fact: There’s a special section in Hell for bullies, I made sure of it.”

_ What?  _ She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. 

“Oh, and nowadays, here on earth, they’re not getting away with just a few bruises that heal either. I’m sure it’s now all uploaded to facebook and wobble. Dozens of times! By our lovely, sensation-seeking crowd. All the formidable arse-whooping they got. They’ll be laughing stocks for years to come.“ 

He snickered with glee and Chloe couldn’t help but snort in response at that. 

Which could either be interpreted as consent as well as objection. Lucifer promptly hesitated. “Unless… you want me to either bring them in, myself, or to instruct the pod to do so, Love?”

Her eyes caressed her daughter’s hair, then shone into his with all the immense relief, gratitude and happiness that she felt. 

“So it  _ was  _ you, wasn’t it? The dolphins? Of course it was. And you were the ‘manta diablo’, right? You’re so unbelievable, Lucifer, unbelievable! Incredible. Fantastic. _ Magnificent. _ ” 

For once, she didn’t hold back with her praise. He deserved tons and TONS of it! She’d only catched parts of what he’d done and she was determined to get the full story accounting tonight, bragging included, snuggled into his arms. Preferably in bed. Or in front of his fireplace, it didn’t matter where. 

Her relieved green-blue gaze was endless like the sea, caressing him from head to toe. Her Angel preened happily under her gaze like a flower in the sun. If his wings would have been out, his feathers would have puffed up, rustled and splayed like a peacocks', sending jubilant rainbow colours into her mind, she was  _ sure  _ of it. 

She shook her head in response to his remark, still smiling her relief at him.

“To answer your question, no, I don’t think they’ll need more punishment than what they already received, for now. But I don’t know the full story, yet. We have to get it out of the kids.” She pointed with her head towards Trixie and her new friend. “I really hope these guys have learned their lesson. And I- well. For once, I have a day off, haven’t I?” 

“You  _ SO  _ have, darling. If anyone deserves a break it’s you, Chloe” Her name a soft caress on his tongue. “Shall we go back, replenish our reserves and  _ enjoy the snacks _ ?” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

_ Why on earth did everything he said take on a sexual-pleasure kind of double meaning, why? _

She grinned back. “Lead the way, my Lord, and prepare our delicious debauchery, will you? I’m lending our two exhausted divers a hand with all their stuff. And with finding back to… well,  _ us _ .”

She desperately needed a moment to check in with her grown-up girl and they both knew it. 

“ _ As you wish _ , Love”. He bowed and his lips caressed the air above the back of her hand, his eyes caressed her.

“Then hurry up, devil-boy,” she replied stand-offish, eyes twinkling. 

She  _ loved  _ it when he used Princess Bride quotes, she really did. 

***************************

Out there at the blue horizon, where heaven and earth met, the hissed death threat still wafted, coiled and lingered over the waves. 

Poisonous mist, brewing evil. 

Trailing behind those who had uttered it, biding its time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ManuHerz79 for being thorough with this chapter! <3

**Author's Note:**

> The story has a lot of tooth rotting fluff. Please note that I do not take bills for the latter - I just hope it brings a smile during though times that require batteries (ct Linda Martin).  
> My heartfelt thanks go to the awesome @ManuHerz79 for reading and checking for logical flaws. I'm so happy to have come to know you a little bit more on twitter, and I hope we can, at some stage, write together... <3<3<3


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